WHILE not getting carried away by the big scoreline, Saints head coach Paul Wellens said he was encouraged by some of the signs he saw in the 46-6 win at Hull FC.

They led 10-0 at the break and were totally dominant in the second half, while welcoming Morgan Knowles and Joe Batchelor back into the fold after long-term injuries.

Recalled scrum-half Lewis Dodd and replacement hooker Jake Burns, making only his second Super League appearance, each scored a brace of tries as Saints ended their five-match losing streak.

Wellens said: “I’m happy. Hull, like ourselves, are missing a large number of players but you go out there and perform; and we did perform in difficult circumstances for us as a club because of the amount of games that we’ve lost recently.

“I thought the way the lads handled today was really good. I don’t usually get caught up too much with completion rates but we were above 90 per cent with the ball.

“Rugby league’s a simple game, if you don’t make too many errors you give yourselves a chance.”

He added: “It was great to see the lads enjoying playing, sticking to a game plan, finding out it’s working for them and then just keep on doing it.

“For large parts of that game, particularly early on when it was set for set and they were challenging us, we had to be patient and we had to wait for the opportunities, but once we brought some fatigue into the game and started to open them up through the middle I thought we got more and more opportunities and the pleasing aspect of that is that we were pretty clinical when we got those opportunities as well.

“I’ve got to reiterate, Hull are pretty depleted and particularly through the middle of the field, so there’s got to be some context added to this.

“But at the same time we can only play what’s in front of us and you have to execute a game plan.

“Completing at 90 per cent-plus is a great sign. Sticking to what we practiced during the week is a great sign, and then seeing the players back themselves and show their ability off the back of that was also a great sign.

“These are all things that we’re going to have to do moving forward in tighter games and more high pressure games.

“It was incredible to see so many fans. We’ve all suffered together and that’s the strength of our club, our togetherness, so I, like everybody else as a group of Saints supporters, knows that when the team doesn’t win you’re disappointed.

“So I get that, but we stick together, they line the terraces each week, they get behind this playing group and if we can continue to do that and we can continue to move forward together I believe there’s a successful future to be had for this team and this club.”