Hull FC are in a hole and it got a whole lot deeper in Perpignan at the weekend.
A mounting injury list got even longer with potential long term lay-offs for two more senior players as Carlos Tuimavave and Adam Swift had to leave the pitch at Stade Gilbert Brutus during the 36-8 defeat to Catalans Dragons.
With fullback Jake Connor out for up to twelve weeks with a knee injury, coach Brett Hodgson admits his squad’s depth will be tested as he prepares for their next game, Warrington Wolves away a week on Friday.
He told League Express, “We’re not at panic stations; we’ve had two performances that weren’t ideal but we’ll roll our sleeves up and go back at it.
“Warrington have some talented players but I’m not worried about them. I am purely focusing on getting out of this little hole we are in at the moment. And I’m sure we will.”
Defeat to Catalans proved more costly than missing out on league points, as Hodgson admitted: “Carlos had to come off with a potential achilles (rupture), and it looks like a groin for Adam but we don’t know the full extent yet.”
Tuimavave sustained hamstring, calf and achilles tendon injuries in the opening rounds of the season and any rupture of the ligament could rule the 30-year-old Samoan centre out for the rest of the campaign.
Hodgson’s injury concerns only added to his disappointment in defeat to the Dragons, who seemed to cope better with heatwave conditions on Saturday night.
The Hull coach added, “We’re sitting in a position in the table that is okay but we want to win these games and it’s disappointing that we haven’t but we’ll have plenty of other opportunities as the season rolls out.
“We ran out of gas in the end. We’ve got injuries, we’ve got players playing out of positions and it was disappointing to concede the last two tries.”
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