Daryl Powell praised his makeshift side after they put in a valiant effort before falling to defeat at the hands of St Helens.
With a stack of injuries, Powell handed opportunities to Will Maher, Brandon Douglas and Connor Fitzsimmons from the bench in the 40-16 defeat.
An injury to Junior Moors in the first-half didn’t help their cause, however Powell was still left pleased with his team’s spirit.
“I thought in lots of ways it was an awesome effort,” Powell said. “There were some great signs for us, particularly with the start – the way we went after them was very pleasing – but obviously it was difficult to maintain it.
“There were some tough things that happened to us to flip the game. We could have done with conceding one try less at half-time.
“Ultimately it was always going to be a tough game to win – Oliver Holmes pulled out with illness and we lost Junior Moors so early in the game – but, if we had had a little bit more control in the second half, it could have been different.
“We had a couple of young fellas in there and a pretty young bench but I thought Brandon Douglas carried the ball well.”
