SAINTS have not beaten Hull KR at Craven Park in Super League since 2007 – a record they want to overturn this Sunday.
They head into the Round 3 clash on the back of two wins but with much to do following a couple of scratchy performances.
And Royce Simmons admits his side will have to show a lot of improvement if they want to extend their winning run.
“I know we haven’t had a great record at Hull KR although we won a Cup game there a few years back,” he said. “It’s always a tough place to go anyway. The crowd is pretty vocal and it’s a bit of trip to get there. But at the end of the day they are excuses aren’t they?
“We have to turn up in the right frame of mind and prepare well. We started slowly on Friday and we did that because we didn’t control the ball well enough. We had plenty of commitment but didn’t do the things we should have. We know where we fell down so we know what to do.
“Control is important. Both their halves are out, but they played for a long time without them last week and won. They have a massive pack of forward and big carriers of the ball. We will need to match that.
“We have worked hard on our execution this week and know we need to play like we did in second half last week – in attack and defence.”
Simmons says he won’t pick the team until Saturday as there are a few doubts heading into the match.
Lee Gaskell has a minor leg pull as does Gary Wheeler, James Roby and Andy Dixon.
Paul Wellens has upped his tempo in training and is a “maybe” whilst it is likely Michael Shenton and Jamie Foster are both in contention.
Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook will also be in the 19 man squad.