ADRIAN LAM said resting sore bodies was the priority after Leigh Leopards’ tougher-than-expected 38-6 victory over Salford Red Devils.

Edwin Ipape, Gareth O’Brien, Umyla Hanley and Owen Trout were all held back as some fringe players were given an opportunity.

“It was tough to watch, especially the first half, but when you make that many changes, it’s going to be clunky at times. It was the basic errors that frustrated me most,” said the coach.

“(We made) six changes, six new faces in the team with ten positional changes so that’s a pretty big disruption.

“I guess the week was just focused around what was best for us moving forward with four games to go after this week and I felt that it was important that the players that were carrying niggle injuries over the past two or three weeks rest and get through that and not be under pressure again with what’s coming up.

“That was the focus and I guess at the end of the day, just the win was going to suffice with that in mind.”

After defeats to Leeds Rhinos and Hull FC, plus a narrow victory at Warrington Wolves beforehand, Leigh did little to suggest a return to form until a late flurry of tries.

“I think the first 40 minutes was a bit of an overflow from the last three weeks, really. A classic of what we’ve done for the last three weeks,” added Lam.

“We were fortunate enough to jag a win against Warrington, but we weren’t very good in that game.

“So hopefully that’s shoved to the side now, because I thought the second 40 minutes was a lot more in control and the DNA of us as a team.”

Lam also praised the efforts of Salford, saying: “I thought they were courageous tonight.

“If they play like that for the rest of the year, they’re going to do themselves and their fans proud.”