St Helens scrum-half Matty Smith believes his side are in a healthy position as they look to make it three wins in a row this evening against his former side Salford.
Smith’s return last week from a broken leg coincided with the Saints’ best result of the season, as they beat Warrington 31-6 to back up the previous week’s win against Catalans.
And the England international says that as the season continues, the Saints will only improve – pinpointing the return of fullback Jonny Lomax as crucial.
“I’m not the best at watching games,” Smith said. “I’ve not done it much over the last four or five years. It’s better to be out there with the lads and have an input in the game.
“As the games go on, hopefully we’ll get the combinations right. There is still lots to work on but I can see us going in the right direction now. We get Jonny back and we’re at full strength so we’re in a good place at the minute.”
Smith also admitted that to suffer his injury when he did, on the eve of the new season in a pre-season friendly, was an injury setback which caused chaos due to the timing of it.
It forced Keiron Cunningham to try a number of options at half-back – including captain Jon Wilkin. However, he can now return to the pack, his preferred position, something Smith believes will be huge for the Saints.
“We trained together for three months before the season started and, to go out in the first game and break my leg, you kind of have to change the way you’re playing a bit,” Smith said.
“It’s important to get people back in the right positions and what it does for Wilko now, playing in the middle, is another bonus for us.”
