Salford Red Devils v Hull FC: Tony Smith says side in better place to avoid 'horrible' repeat

Smith's men shipped 10 tries in a 60-14 defeat on home soil in round four, the second of seven straight losses in a miserable run that left the Hull faithful fearing another lost season.

The Black and Whites have enjoyed a resurgence in recent weeks, recording a fourth win in a row against Castleford Tigers in the Challenge Cup to keep the club alive in both competitions.

The form spike leaves Hull four points adrift of sixth-placed Salford ahead of the latest meeting between the sides.

"Nothing can change what we did last time or the result," said Smith. "That's on record and will live forever.

"Can we make a different result and a different part of history this time? Absolutely. We'd like to.

"We certainly wouldn't like to repeat that result or feeling – it was horrible.

"Revenge isn't necessarily going to happen. It's not going to make that result disappear because it's going to be in our memories forever.

"Will it drive us on a little bit this week? I hope so. We know what our opponents are capable of if we're not at our best."

Smith believes Hull are in a better place to counter Salford's threats after tightening up in defence but Super League's most experienced coach is taking nothing for granted.

"We were far from our best that day and being connected up as a team," he said. "We were in a different part of our season and our development.

"I'd like to hope there are none of those alarming and drastic scorelines against us again. I've also been in rugby league long enough to know there are no guarantees of that no matter where you are in the table.

"At one stage at Leeds I got beat by 60 by St Helens and in the same year won the Grand Final. We did the reverse to them and they won the Grand Final.

"It doesn't make you immune to big results happening again – but I'd like to think we're in a different sort of state to where we were earlier in the season."

Salford have enjoyed a strong start to the season after reaching the semi-finals of the play-offs in 2022.

The Red Devils' recent exploits make them a side to be feared, according to Smith.

"They're a good team and deserve to be respected," he added.

"They play some attractive rugby league at times and have half-backs that really like to run the ball, pass the ball and kick the ball with some good outside backs that finish off and they've got hardworking forwards.

"They're a dangerous team and I think every team in the competition realises that."