Are you still feeling disappointed over the way things went against Salford?

It was a very difficult one to take.

I think we’d all hoped that after getting back to winning was with victory over Celtic Crusaders in our previous League game, we’d start to regain some of our best form.

But clearly the performance against Salford showed that wasn’t the case.

We did create the opportunities to score, but Salford scrambled back and found a way to keep us out, or we threw the ball to the ground or kicked the ball dead. We just couldn’t find a way to catch, pass and score.

On the other hand, Salford controlled the ball extremely well, and after 60 minutes had made just two errors, which was a tremendous effort, especially when considering the wet conditions.

That’s something we need to start doing again.

And the only way to do that is to work hard, regain some confidence and get back on the horse.

I think everyone can see that our confidence is a bit down, and that’s been a factor in the way things have been going over the past few weeks.

Having to change the team due to injuries has also knocked us around a bit, and poor execution and lack of skills have also been a concern.

So, I think a combination of all of the above have been at the centre of the problems.

But at least against Salford we were creating opportunities. In fact, we created about eight of them.

We just have to make sure that in future games we take them.

You mentioned injuries hitting you hard. How much have you really missed your captain, Brett Hodgson?

With all due respect to Rochdale in the Cup game, his absence wasn’t that much of a problem that day.

But clearly it was more of a concern against Salford in Super League.

Brett is a good, stabilising influence, a quality leader and a cool head. That’s why he’s such an excellent captain.

However, there are a lot of times when clubs lack their leaders but manage to overcome their absence, and we should be able to do the same.

So, we can’t use Brett’s injury as an excuse.

At the end of the day, we made 17 errors against Salford. That’s the main reason we lost this game.

For much of this season, your half-backs have been at the heart of your success. So it must have been tough to see them lose their particular battle last weekend.

Yes, I’m afraid they were outplayed 100%, which is something we haven’t had to say too many times this season.

I thought Luke Robinson had some good parts to his game, but his kicking was a bit disappointing.

And I think we all felt for Kevin Brown, who had one of those games to forget.

Up until last weekend, he’d had a very good year and had been integral to our rise up the League table. We’d been delighted with the form he’d been showing.

Unfortunately, this was one game where he doesn’t need to worry about putting it in the family highlights package!

But we all know Kev remains a quality player and will soon be back making a very positive impression for us, because he’s too good a player not to.

Yet while it was disappointing to lose the half-back battle, it was just as disappointing that we didn’t have the others around him who were able to step up and help overcome the lack of form of one of our best players.

So next up it’s Wakefield, and then the added pressure of the Challenge Cup quarter-final against Castleford. How much are you looking forward to the challenges ahead?

As a club, we all look forward to the challenge.

But I don’t think I would use the word ‘pressure’ in relation to the Challenge Cup.

Having been regularly involved with semi-final football in Australia, I’m used to knock-out games.

And, to be honest, the stakes are much higher in those game as far as the media goes, because rugby league in Australia is like football over here. That’s real high pressure.

But there is internal pressure in the sense of the need to rediscover that early-season form.

That process is happening now as we plan for Sunday’s trip to Wakefield.

We’ve got to be good in that game before we face Castleford, because if our poor run of form continues I fear we could be involved in the Cup-tie just to make up the numbers.

Although it’s obviously not good to lose to second-bottom Salford, the fact you were beaten by the City Reds and Bradford Bulls lost at home to the previously winless Celtic Crusaders has to be good for the competition.

It’s certainly no consolation to us!

But I can see how it could been seen as good for the competition, because you want it to be as close as possible and for the games to be as competitive as they possibly can.

What I think is really healthy is that we’re almost halfway through the competition and Wigan, Bradford and Warrington are all out of the top eight.

If someone had said that at the start of the year, people would have laughed.

And, although it pains me to say it, it has to be good for the game that the team that’s second bottom of Super League can go and win at the home of the club that was lying fourth.

Were you disappointed there were no Giants players named in the initial 17-man England Elite training squad?

It was just another reflection of the fact we’re going through a bit of a lull at the moment.

Obviously, if we were playing as well now as we were at the start of the season, it’s possible we may have had one or two players in there. But, to be honest, I’ve never been one for commenting on the team selection of another coach.

Rather than concerning myself over matters of who’s in and who isn’t in the England squad, my sole focus is on trying to help us get back to our early-season form.

That’s our No1 priority, and if we get players selected for the national side on the back of a successful Super League season, that’s a bonus.