Wakefield Trinity boss Daryl Powell on need to hold their nerve in six-game run-in
Despite admitting there were harsh lessons to be learned from another defeat to St Helens, head coach Daryl Powell still believes his Wakefield Trinity side are in a strong position to push for a play-off place.
Trinity’s chastening 34-4 defeat to Saints plus Hull’s 80-6 thrashing of Salford Red Devils saw Powell’s men side drop back out of the Betfred Super League play-off spots.
But it is the turn of Wakefield to face struggling Salford this Sunday while Hull face top two chasing Leigh Leopards and there is likely to be more twists and turns before the sixth place is decided in six weeks time.
"We’ve got a good opportunity, but it’s not a nailed on one, we’ve got to do better than we did (against St Helens) to beat most teams,” said Powell.
"It will be whichever team holds their nerve and can get some consistency in these last six games.
"We have a shot at the top six, but you can’t go into the play-offs playing like that – it will be a one week journey! We know that.
"There’s some understandable bits in there, which we need to take into consideration when we break it down and look into it.”
Powell reiterated that his side are still a work in progress in their first season back in the top flight.
He explained: “We’re growing, we’re developing and learning and we’re going to have days like this (against St Helens).
"They’re hard to take at times and the players are really disappointed, but it’s kind of a reality as well when you’re going to have some days where you’re not quite good enough or the team on the other side of the field is better than you.
“Saints have been too good for us all year. They’re the only team really that have been a level above us and we’ve got to get our heads around that.”
Powell is likely to ring the changes for the trip to Salford with the game giving him a chance to have a look at several players who did not feature against Saints.
He added: "Corey Hall has a foot injury. It didn’t look great, he’ll have a scan and we’ll take it from there.
"But Ky Rodwell potentially comes back into the equation after injury. And we’ve got a fair few players who haven’t played – Olly Russell, Josh Rourke, Seth Nikotemo, Cam Scott.
"I’m going to give those boys a chance to stake a claim for a place in the team.”