Monday 31 October 2016 13:41, UK
England players say the team remains on the right track as coach Wayne Bennett ponders whether to make changes following their opening Four Nations defeat.
An agonising 17-16 loss to holders New Zealand at Huddersfield on Saturday means Bennett's side must beat both Scotland and world champions Australia to keep alive their hopes of a maiden Four Nations title.
Stand-off Gareth Widdop, who won his 20th cap against the Kiwis, insists England do not need to change much to get their campaign up and running.
"It wasn't the result we wanted but we certainly showed some really good signs and we'll be better for it," the St George Illawarra captain said.
"There's a few little things we need to fix up. We were in control for the first 20 or 25 minutes but our discipline and execution let us down a little bit so, if we fix that, we'll be fine.
"In the end a field goal separated us. You can't knock the effort of the boys or the commitment that we showed. It was outstanding.
"We've got Scotland this week so we've got to turn up on Tuesday, get our preparation right and train really well. We have to do the same again, stick to our processes and not really worry about the outcome."
Wigan second rower John Bateman also believes there were more positives than negatives from England's close-fought duel with New Zealand, as they set their sights on Steve McCormack's Bravehearts in the first part of a Four Nations double header at Coventry's Ricoh Arena on Saturday.
"The mood in the camp's a bit down but we know what we've done and we know the positives we have to take out of it," Bateman said.
"We definitely have the belief. You look at the passion and pride we've got - it's always been there.
"It's just little stuff that cost us - we didn't touch the ball for the last 10 minutes of the first half and that's when they scored.
"We fix that up and we can beat anyone. There's no worry. We've got the players, we've got the coaching staff.
"Everyone knows what their job is, everyone knows what we need to do and we've got to do that next week against Scotland and then Australia."
Widdop and Bateman could face competition for their places from George Williams and Liam Farrell, the two players left out of Bennett's 19-man squad for Saturday's game.
Widdop was given a new half-back partner for the third match in a row when Luke Gale made his debut in England's 40-6 win in France and he believes there is more to come from his pairing with the Castleford scrum-half.
"Luke's had a fantastic season over here," Widdop said. "It was good that we had our first hit-out together last week and I thought on Saturday we worked well together.
"Hopefully we get another opportunity next week. If you are swapping and changing all the time, it's hard to get consistency. Wayne will have an idea of what he wants to do. We'll just turn up and try to do the job he gives us the best we can."
Widdop is looking forward to the prospect of going up against his Dragons team-mate Euan Aitken, one of four NRL regulars in the Scotland team.
"He's a good young kid," Widdop added. "He had a good year this year. It's always exciting coming up against your team-mates and I've no doubt he'll be wanting to go out there and put in a performance.
"They've got some good players there and no doubt they'll be fired up but it's about what we need to do."
