Huddersfield Giants v Catalans Dragons - Lee Gaskell urges Giants to build on Salford platform

Huddersfield Giants' Lee Gaskell (Picture: Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com)

Let's build on Salford win, says Huddersfield's Lee Gaskell. (Picture: SWPix.com)

Victory at Salford Red Devils last week was a much-needed first success in five games but, as stand-off Lee Gaskell explains, that sort of performance must now be the bare minimum.

Too often too inconsistent, Huddersfield host Catalans Dragons on Friday night knowing they must immediately build further or they will remain entrenched in a relegation battle.

“That (win) has given us a bit of confidence now and that’s what we needed,” said Gaskell, who helped Giants fight back from an early 8-0 deficit to win 36-18.

“Our effort was fantastic and we just needed that victory.

“We know two wins and you’re nearly in the top five and two losses and you’re in the bottom two. It’s as easy as that to swing.

“Catalans have obviously gone through a bad patch. But they then got that win themselves over Wakefield on Saturday and we know they’ve got quality players who can hurt you.”

The French side had been in a worse state than Giants, losing their last five before vanquishing Trinity 44-10, Jodie Broughton – the former Huddersfield winger who makes his 200th appearance tonight – scoring a hat-trick.

But the West Yorkshire club will concentrate on themselves tonight as Gaskell added: “The last couple of weeks’ results hadn’t been good enough.

“To go 8-0 down at Salford and show that kind of attitude and resilience was really pleasing; it’s something we can build on now.

“It shows that there’s character in the squad and will give us some confidence going in the later stages of the season.

“You never know what can happen if we turn up with the attitude we had in the last 60 minutes of that game. We can beat anyone on our day.”

Gaskell hit a post with a simple conversion attempt last week that left the game in the balance.

He was replaced on kicking duties by Darnell McIntosh and said: “We talk about the pressure; we’re fighting at the bottom and you overthink things.

“I was thinking ‘please go over’ and went through the same routine so it was frustrating but I’m just happy we got the win.”