HUDDERSFIELD Giants travel to St Helens in Super League tonight (8.00) determined to avoid a hat trick of heavy defeats.

On April 25, Saints turned on the style to destroy Huddersfield 46-6 in the semi-final of the Challenge Cup at Warrington.

Then just three week ago coach Ian Millward's side inflicted an even heavier 50-8 Super League defeat on the Giants in their own back yard.

They are arguably the McAlpine club's two most painful defeats this season.

But Giants coach Jon Sharp will no doubt be looking to the fact that the key players in those earlier St Helens successes will be missing tonight.

In the Challenge Cup-tie, scrum half Sean Long was the inspiration. The Giants had no answer to his deadly tactical kicking.

And on July 7, it was Super League Man of Steel Paul Sculthorpe who was pulling all the strings.

This evening, however, Long will be sitting on the sidelines after being banned for betting irregularities, while Sculthorpe is nursing a hamstring strain.

That must give the Giants not only hope of running the Saints close, but also of pulling off a major scalp on their travels.

"There's no question we have been on the receiving end of two of St Helens' best performances this season," observed Sharp.

"Their performance against us in the Challenge Cup semi-final was outstanding.

"And they also blew us away at the McAlpine the other week with a fantastic second-half performance.

"Those defeats hurt, and none of us wants to experience anything similar tonight.

"I'm just hoping that with so many key absentees, they find it difficult to get into their rhythm and we can get amongst them."

Saints are still smarting from the embarrassment of their 70-0 thrashing at leaders Leeds a week ago.

Yet Sharp knows they will still be a tough, uncompromising side who will be determined to bounce back from their Headingley horror show as effectively as possible.

"The defeat will have knocked them, but there's no way Ian (Millward) will have hit any panic buttons," added Sharp.

"His message will have been for his players not to lose any self-belief. After all, they still possess many world-class players in the side, and that's what he'll be telling them."

St Helens: Wellens, Gardner, Albert, Gilmour, Feaunati, Talau, Hooper, Fozzard, Cunningham, Mason, Edmondson, Fa'asavalu, Wilkin, Bennett, Bibey, Roby, Hardman, Graham.

Huddersfield Giants: Reilly, Donlan, O'Hare, Evans, Bailey, St Hilaire, Costin, March; Fleary, Joseph, Crabtree, Jones, Roarty, Penkywicz, Gannon, Smith, Grayshon, Morrison.

Referee: Ashley Klein (London).