Warrington Wolves 4 Hull FC 0: Jake Connor-shaped hole obvious in insipid display

But the evidence suggested otherwise as the Black and Whites slumped to a woeful 4-0 defeat at the hands of the beleaguered Warrington Wolves in an instantly forgettable Super League game.

In the absence of Connor, who has created the most tries in the competition this year, Hull lacked any kind of creativity.

Hodgson's side were facing a Warrington outfit at a low ebb on the back of five straight defeats but they did not look like taking advantage of their vulnerabilities.

A third straight defeat leaves the Airlie Birds looking over their shoulder at the chasing pack in the race for the play-offs.

If they are to stay in the top six, they must find a way to cope without Connor over the next two months.

Although it was a predictably tense opening, few would have expected only the second tryless game in Super League history and the first since 2007.

Boos provided the soundtrack to Warrington's last home match against Leeds Rhinos - a humiliating 40-4 defeat - but Daryl Powell's side had enthusiastic backing on their return to the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Hull did little to change the mood in the opening quarter, a nervy start summed up by an unforced error by Ligi Sao close to the Warrington line when the visitors got the chance to turn the screw.

Already without the likes of Connor and Carlos Tuimavave, the Black and Whites suffered another injury blow after losing Adam Swift to a suspected broken leg.

Swift was soon joined on the sidelines by Luke Gale after the veteran playmaker came off second best going for the line after exchanging passes with Manu Ma'u.

It later emerged that Gale had failed his HIA, leaving Hodgson with 15 men and without a senior half-back for the final 55 minutes.

Injuries were the biggest talking point of a first half devoid of any entertainment.

Warrington lost hooker Daryl Clark to a head injury and then saw forward Joe Philbin hobble off with a serious-looking leg injury.

Clark was cleared in time for the start of the second period and it was Warrington who made the first move, increasing the tempo with Powell's half-time team talk ringing in their ears.

Stefan Ratchford's 46th-minute penalty was greeted by ironic cheers from the stands but there was a sense that the home supporters were starting to believe.

A break by George Williams raised the volume inside the stadium and the Wolves went agonisingly close to scoring the opening try when Josh Thewlis went himself from dummy-half on the last tackle.

Poor execution continued to let both teams down, Ben Currie giving Ratchford little chance with a sloppy pass in a promising situation and Danny Houghton's kick to the corner floating out of Darnell McIntosh's reach.

McIntosh had the chance to level the scores when Hull were awarded a penalty for offside out towards the right touchline but he dragged his effort wide to the frustration of the travelling fans behind the posts.

That frustration turned to relief after seeing Thewlis denied a try by a forward pass but Warrington did extend their lead 14 minutes from time thanks to a second Ratchford penalty for offside.

Hull did not look like scoring as the clock ticked down but the Wire's inability to take their chances gave Hodgson's men a sniff right to the end.

The tension in the home crowd was palpable as the Black and Whites applied some belated pressure in the dying minutes.

But Hull failed to carve out a clear opening, in keeping with an insipid performance from the visitors.

Warrington Wolves: Widdop, Thewlis, Wrench, Mata'utia, Ashton, Ratchford, Williams, Mulhern, Clark, Cooper, Currie, Holmes, Davis.

Substitutes: Philbin, Walker, Harrison, Mikaele.

Hull FC: Shaul, McIntosh, Vulikijapani, Wynne, Swift, Lovodua, Gale, Evans, Houghton, Satae, Lane, Ma'u, Sao.

Substitutes: Hookem, Fash, Brown, Taylor.

Referee: James Child.