I’m trying my very best to forget last week’s defeat at Warrington.

It wasn’t just a loss against one of our biggest rivals but a humbling one..

Frankly I couldn’t remember the last time Saints were nilled, although I’m told it was over three years ago in a 25-0 defeat to Wigan in August 2016.

I think what happened in the warm up set the precedent for how the night would go. Losing the influential Alex Walmsley 15 minutes before kick off with a calf pull was a huge loss, compounded by losing Mark Percival just after the break.

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However, as Kristian Woolf said in his post-match interview we still had more than enough quality out there to get the job done against the Wire, but were our own worst enemy.

I agree with the gaffer. I thought we looked poor from the off, making far too many unforced errors with the ball and giving away too many dumb penalties and field position.

But take nothing away from Warrington, I thought they came with a game plan and executed it to the letter.

Seeing numerous player interviews after the game, they had obviously targeted the Saints pack and realised they must win this ‘battle’ to stop the likes of Lomax, Percival and Naiqama from having success with the ball....and it worked.

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On the flip side, their forwards continuously came hard at the Saints defence, allowing Austin & Co time and space to play and ultimately score points.

However, that game is gone now, we must learn from it and move forward…and it doesn’t get any easier this week as we travel to the KC Stadium to face the early pacesetters Hull FC.

The black and whites look a confident side in their opening two fixtures, and will no doubt look at our performance last week and try to capitalise. They also have a big powerful forward pack, but will be without the impressive Chris Satae who picked up a three-match suspension following a late challenge in their Humberside derby win on Friday.

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The challenge to Saints is just to get back on the horse and do what we do best...be disciplined and solid in defence, and more clinical with the ball. This must start by winning the forward battle upfront with the likes of Thomo, Matty Lees and LMS leading the way. If we do this, I think we can return home with the points.

I’m going for a tight contest, but for the champions to get back to winning ways with a narrow victory....a win by more than four points is 5/6 with Super League title sponsors Betfred.