Leeds Rhinos v Hull KR: Tomkins hoping to ease derby heartache at Headingley

However, that does not mean the former dual-code England international is naive nor feels the pain; he knows the pressure is on Sunday when his squad return to action at Leeds Rhinos.

Suffering a record 56-12 defeat at the home of derby rivals Hull FC on Good Friday would appear to be as bad as it gets.

But for those supporters – and there was plenty – who then saw them surrender 54-6 at home to Warrington Wolves on Easter Monday things got worse.

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post, Tomkins said: “I think the silver lining of Easter weekend for us is we don’t need any extra motivation now.

“For most teams this game is probably as much as a challenge as the Easter weekend itself – it’s tough backing up after those two games – but for us we’re just desperate to get back out there and try to get another two points on the ladder.

“It sounds bad when you say conceded more than 100 points in just two games.

“It is. But when you actually watch the games, the first half of both we actually played pretty well.

“We were in the game going into half-time in both and could have been level in both if we’d have taken a couple more of our opportunities. We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times, but it’s our second-half performances that are just not good enough at the minute.

“We’ve let a lot of points in, especially in the last 20 of each game. We’d just not get a foothold in the game at Hull FC at that point and they just rolled us and it was similar at Warrington when we just fell away completely.

“But the bottom line is we got beat by 50 in both games and we know what we have to do.

“I can understand fans’ frustrations in the way that we played over Easter.

“There’s no doubt about it that we do have some excuses we can use if we want to with players being out injured – we are a busted squad at the minute – but the fans will expect more than we produced in those second-half performances.

“Us as players, we’re not coming into training and laughing and joking. It’s hurting us as well.”

If it helps Rovers, who admittedly have been hamstrung by various injury issues, Sunday’s hosts Leeds are similarly beleaguered, sitting joint-bottom with London Broncos following a strange campaign.

They lost their opening four games and, though picking up some wins since, have been maddeningly inconsistent, losing at Wakefield on Easter Monday just when they had looked to have turned a corner with victory over Huddersfield Giants on Good Friday. Rovers vanquished them 45-26 earlier this month, but are just one place and two points above them.

Tomkins, 32, said: “Strange is a good way of describing them; they are having a strange season.

“They’re really unpredictable. I think if you look at their team on paper, and the quality they have in the side, they’d be expected to be higher than what they are.

“They’ve obviously got a top-quality coach in Dave Furner who’s come over from the NRL with a great reputation.

“They are still probably adapting to him, to his philosophies and the way he wants to play, and you can kind of see that coming into their game now. They’re starting to play the game a bit differently to what they have done in the previous couple of years.

“With the quality they have got in that side they are a very dangerous outfit and are probably due a really top-quality performance, so we have to try and stop that.”

Forwards Brett Ferres (knee), Wellington Albert (concussion) and Nathaniel Peteru (suspension) are all absent, although Leeds are boosted by Adam Cuthbertson, Jack Walker and Cameron Smith returning.

Loan signing Antoni Maria is expected to make his debut for Rovers after being recruited on a one-month loan stint, and Ryan Lannon is also named in head coach Tim Sheens’s squad after 10 weeks out because of injury.