Toulouse Olympique coach Sylvain Houles believes this Friday’s clash with Wakefield Trinity could be a “crucial decider” for both clubs – even at this early stage of the season.
The two teams are both winless after four rounds of Super League and although there is still five months to run, the spectre of relegation hangs over their meeting this week.
“We know that the game against Wakefield will be crucial; we both desperately need the points even so early in the season,” said Houles after his side’s final-minute home defeat to Wigan Warriors on Saturday.
Toulouse raced to an 18-10 half-time lead over Wigan at Stade Ernest Wallon and looked likely to win the match until late tries for Liam Marshall and Jai Field led to a Harry Smith field-goal winner.
Houles added, “The Wakefield game was always going to be important to us but I won’t add any pressure on the boys. We just must stick to our process and keep building.
“We have just seen that we can perform under pressure against a top team like Wigan and we will need the same approach at Wakefield.”
Houles took heart from his team’s performance against the in-form Warriors and he will welcome back several senior players to his squad for the Wakefield game.
Dominique Peyroux, Joseph Paulo and Harrison Hansen will all be available for selection, although Houles might find it difficult to drop anyone from the starting 17 against Wigan.
“We have some players returning from injury but our entire team was strong against Wigan.
“We seem to have picked up no issues from the match so I will have a strong squad to select from this week.”
Houles believes his side is gathering momentum and that their first win is just around the corner.
He added, “We took another step forward against a really strong team.
“We can see that the process is working and the boys now know what we expect from them, how we want to work, play and defend.
“Our preparation has been good in the last three weeks. The boys have been training and turning up with the right attitude.
“They pushed Wigan all the way so it is encouraging but when you play sports, you want to win.
“It’s a tough one, I thought it was there for us to take it and it’s no good complaining, we must focus on the things that we can control and improve upon.
“We found some great positions from kicks today and we forced errors from the opposition, which gave us great opportunities.
“In the middle of the second half, we went there every time and came back with points. At the end of the day we just missed one and it’s a shame because we’re not far off.
“We just needed one more point.
“We thought we’d done enough, but it wasn’t enough.”
The above content is also available in the regular weekly edition of League Express, on newsstands every Monday in the UK and as a digital download. Click here for more details.
