SAINTS skipper Jon Wilkin says the team will not need to take any extra motivation from opponents Warrington this Friday after admitting the team had underperformed in recent weeks.

St Helens take on Tony Smith’s high-flying Wolves in what is sure to be a raucous derby atmosphere at The Halliwell Jones Stadium.

It is a fixture which has historically been kind to Saints, who have only been beaten by the Wolves once at the venue in Super League.

But Wilkin says they will need no inspiration from their opposition, who have lost only once this season – on Easter Monday at Hull FC.

“One of the things that’s frustrated me is every week people say this is a good game for you but we’ve just got to get our head around winning games regardless,” said Wilkin.

“We don’t need our opponents to motivate us, we need to retain what we do well and do it every week.

“I think effort-wise we are happy with where we are but at the end of the day effort is one part of the game and execution’s the other side of it and I think effort alone is not enough from a playing perspective. We need to couple that with some execution.”

Referring to Saints’ form so far this season as “inconsistent”, Wilkin says they will have to raise their game on Friday against a Warrington side now fielding the younger brother of former Saints centre Matt Gidley.

“Warrington have been in great form, I’ve been impressed with the way they’ve recruited,” he added.

“Kurt Gidley was probably one of the most shrewd signings this year and he’s added something to Warrington that they’ve not had really since Lee Briers left.

“Warrington play quickly and on the front foot and if we want to have any ambition of beating them we’ve got to stop that.

“I’d say we are underperforming, I feel we did enough to beat Hull and we didn’t. There are some things we’re getting right but it’s the detail of the game that defines the difference between winning and losing.

“It is just a natural cycle of the game, you get heavily criticised you improve your performance and then at some stage you get heavily criticised again.

“The criticism from our fans is absolutely a fundamental part of the game.

“Understanding how demanding our fans are and the opinion of people outside our club on how successful we should be is crucial to playing at this club because the pressure can be consuming and dealing with it is a unique thing.”