HULL FC coach John Cartwright admitted Leeds Rhinos’ quality told as their play-off fate slipped out of their hands with a 0-34 defeat.

“It was tough in a lot of ways. The quality of the opposition showed after the 25-minute mark,” he said.

“We had to be near-perfect today, and we were smart early on and defended well but in the last 15 minutes of the first half it all unfolded.

“In the second half we had no interchange to call on, but I think we can do a lot better with the ball.”

They were down on numbers after injuries to Herman Ese’ese (leg), Ed Chamberlain (hamstring) and Cade Cust (back).

“Herman can’t put any weight on his lower leg and we’ll have to check a couple of hamstring injuries during the week,” added Cartwright, who takes his side to rivals Hull KR next Sunday.

“We are running out of numbers with our middles.”