Coach wants Salford to continue run after making Giant strides

IAN Watson will be hoping his Salford side can build on last week’s victory over Huddersfield as they look to finish the Betfred Super League season as strongly as possible.

It is not yet mathematically impossible for the Red Devils to make the play-off semifinals and book a potential Grand Final date at Old Trafford, but the former Swinton Lions boss is not concerning himself with what may lie ahead.

“We have just got to worry about ourselves,” said Watson. “The table will look after itself.

“We have been focusing on us rather than worrying about chasing a Grand Final. We will take each step as it comes.“

The 52-14 thrashing of Huddersfield at the AJ Bell Stadium last weekend brought an end to a run of eight successive defeats, with Watson admitting it was the best performance he had seen from his players ‘for some time’.

“This has been a real tough period for us with a number of losses but I’ve always said we’d learn things as a group because the Super 8s has been a new experience for us.

“Some of the young lads like Jake Bibby and Ryan Lannon did really well, and as a team and a club we will do better for this experience going forward.”

Both Bibby and Lannon keep their places in Watson’s 19-man squad for the trip to Headingley tonight, where they will face off against second-placed Leeds.

Gareth O’Brien partnered Rob Lui in the halves against Huddersfield and the pair are again set to steer their team around, with Niall Evalds likely to keep the number one jersey.

George Griffin returns from injury and Daniel Murray is in line to make his first appearance since the defeat at Castleford early last month.