Ethan Ryan has urged his Hull KR teammates to take the positives from their disappointing Challenge Cup defeat by Castleford last Friday night as they prepare to host Huddersfield Giants this Friday.
Both sides are desperately seeking a first Super League win of 2021, with Rovers losing out to Catalans and St Helens in their first two games.
Gareth O’Brien delivered a devastating knockout blow with a golden-point field-goal in the fourth period of extra time as Castleford won 33-32 at Hull College Craven Park.
That was after Rovers let slip a 32-18 lead in the final ten minutes of a try-packed third-round tie.
Tony Smith’s side also lost on golden point to Catalans in their opening Super League clash, with James Maloney landing the vital field-goal.
In that game, Rovers fought back after being 28-4 behind with 55 minutes gone to level things up.
After the Castleford clash, Ireland international back Ryan, who joined Rovers from Bradford ahead of last season, tweeted: “Absolutely gutted that we couldn’t come away with the win. Massive improvements from us, let’s take it into the next game.”
Seasoned coach Smith, whose side managed only four wins from 19 matches last year, insists “tons of” progress is being made.
“We’ve made enormous progress defensively. We dominated in defence for big periods of that game, so that was outstanding,” he said.
“Some of our control of the ball in the early patches of the game was encouraging.
“We made progress in a lot of areas, but at the same time, we came up with some not so good stuff as well. We’ve got to learn from that.
“They’re one of the teams that everybody has been tipping for all sorts this year, so to go toe to toe with them was outstanding.
“I’m pleased that we showed what we’re able to do and that we can compete with some of the teams people rave about.”
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