GIANTS forward Stuart Jones is savouring the prospect of a fourth showdown of the season with his mates at St Helens - and he hasn't ruled out a fifth!

The no-nonsense second row, on a season-long loan from the Knowsley Road club, refuses to give up on the chase for a place in the Tetley's Super League play-offs.

Victory at Saints tonight, when kick-off is 8.00, would be a massive boost to Huddersfield's hopes of pipping Wakefield and Warrington to a top-six finish.

And if the Giants do make the big end-of-season event, it's possible they could come face-to-face with Aussie coach Ian Millward's side yet again.

Amazingly, given Saints are in fifth place and Huddersfield seventh, tonight's clash pits the two sides with the poorest recent records in the 12-strong top flight.

The Giants, coached of course by Millward's former assistant Jon Sharp, haven't won in six outings while Saints have just one victory in that time - 50-10 over Huddersfield at Knowsley Road on July 30.

That followed their 46-6 Challenge Cup semi-final win over Sharp's men at Warrington in April, when the currently suspended Sean Long was the star of the show, and a 50-8 win in West Yorkshire on July 7 in the first of this season's three Super League clashes between the pair.

"We certainly owe Saints one, and a win tonight would be a huge boost for us," said Jones, who was in the Saints side memorably beaten 36-22 by the Giants at what was then the McAlpine Stadium in round four of Super League last season.

"Other than the Castleford match, we've been producing some good rugby of late, and we definitely deserved to get something out of Sunday's match at Widnes."

Jones maintained his ever-present record for the Giants by playing despite a bout of illness at the Halton Stadium, where Huddersfield suffered a controversial 24-18 defeat.

"If it wasn't for a few refereeing decisions which were, shall we say, controversial, I'm convinced we would have won," insisted the 23-year-old, who began his career at hometown Wigan before joining their arch-rivals.

"We produced a great fightback in the last 10 minutes and really had them on the rack, and had Sean Penkywicz's late try been allowed, I'm sure we'd have gone on to win."

On his illness, Jones explained: "I started with stomach pains on the night before the game, and ended up being put on a drip in the dressing room before the match.

"It was all a bit surreal, and I couldn't really do my usual warm-up routine, but whatever was in the drip seemed to do the trick, because I felt okay when I got out there."

Jones has been back in regular training this week, and is eager to add to the woes of the club where he comes out of contract at the end of the season.

"What happens after this season has still to be discussed, and staying at Huddersfield would certainly be appealing because I've really enjoyed my time here," he said.

"But for the time being, it's a case of taking one match at a time and working hard to get the win which would get things back on track for us.

"I still keep in touch with a few of the Saints lads, and while we've talked about the things that have happened there this season, they are still keeping their focus and it would be very dangerous to write them off.

"On their day, they're a real class act, and having had a number of injuries to key players on top of the suspensions for Longy and Martin Gleeson, they're finally getting back to something like full fitness.

"I watched the game at Wigan (who won 27-18 at the JJB last Friday) on TV and I thought Saints were prettty unlucky to lose.

"You never write them off, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them come good in the play-offs."

Saints: Wellens, Albert, Gilmour, Talau, Gardner, Hooper, Moore, Fozzard, Cunningham, Mason, Joynt, Sculthorpe, Roby, Bibey, Bennett, Stankevitch, Graham, Higham, Feaunati, Fa'asavalu, Viane.

Giants: Donlan, Reilly, Fagborun, Evans, Costin, St Hilaire, Gene, March, Gannon, Penkywicz, Fleary, Morrison, Smith, Grayshon, Jones, White, O'Hare, Joseph, Nero, Bailey, Southwell, Hemingway.

Referee: Richard Silverwood (Mirfield).