Sky Live: St Helens v Warrington Wolves
Last Updated: 03/06/16 7:30pm
St Helens coach Keiron Cunningham has asked his players to build on the performance of last week's loss to Hull FC as they prepare to take on second-place Warrington on Friday night, live on Sky Sports 3.
Saints went down 32-24 to Lee Radford's men at KC Stadium in round 16, but there were positives in the game for the 2014 Super League champions.
After trailing 12-0 early in the game, Saints fought back to lead 18-14 at the break before being outscored in the second half, which Cunningham believed was against the run of play.
"I thought we righted a few wrongs with the performance at Hull FC on Saturday and bar a few poor decisions and tough calls from the man in the middle we should have come away with it," said Cunningham. "For large portions of the game we were the better side but we came away with nothing other than a little polish on our pride.
"We had lots of opportunities even though we lost our half-back in the first minute. That meant we had to juggle the whole side around and that isn't an easy thing to do. It also hurts our rotation. But every one to a man did themselves proud.
"We started slowly but built into the game and scored some nice tries. We then had those chances but we got hurt and fell short. That said, it was a good performance. Now we have to build on that into this Friday's game."
Luke Walsh was injured in the second minute of the game, forcing Jon Wilkin to pair with Theo Fages in the half-backs, and Cuningham has hinted he may opt for the same pairing on Friday night after it was confirmed Walsh will miss the next few weeks.
"Walshy and Theo were going well - Jon Wilkin came in and did a good job on Saturday. He is a good leader for this club and to have his influence in the middle will help us.
"These derbies are always good ones no matter what form the teams are in. It will be great for the fans. We got loud support at Hull FC last week and at Magic too. Hopefully, they will turn out in their droves to support us and we can get back to winning ways.
"We know where we have to head and hard work will take us there. We are working exceptionally hard and Saturday turned the corner for a lot of the players, but we didn't get the spoils.
"We have to work hard on individual performances and from that the collective will be better."
Warrington meanwhile are without second-rower Ben Westwood through injury and prop Ashton Sims because of suspension which will mean a first start for Ryan Bailey, while Jordan Cox and Sam Wilde are back in the Wolves squad.
St Helens: Kyle Amor, Jack Ashworth, Matty Dawson, Theo Fages, Joe Greenwood, Morgan Knowles, Jonny Lomax, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Jack Owens, Greg Richards, James Roby, Adam Swift, Lama Tasi, Luke Thompson, Jordan Turner, Atelea Vea, Alex Walmsley, Calvin Wellington, Jon Wilkin.
Warrington Wolves: Ryan Atkins, Ryan Bailey, Daryl Clark, Jordan Cox, Ben Currie, Brad Dwyer, Rhys Evans, Kurt Gidley, Chris Hill, Benjamin Jullien, George King, Toby King, Tom Lineham, Gene Ormsby, Joe Philbin, Stefan Ratchford, Chris Sandow, Joe Westerman, Sam Wilde.