Ben Crooks urges beaten Hull KR to eye positives after Challenge Cup exit

The Robins lost Friday’s quarter-final tie 28-22 having fought back from 22-0 down early in the second period to give Warrington a genuine scare at the finish.

However, crucially they had failed to score any points when the under-pressure visitors had two players sin-binned during the first half.

Winger Crooks said: “It is massive opportunity gone. We know that.

“That section of the game where they went down to 11 men we just weren’t smart enough.

“They went down to 12 and when we didn’t capitalise we sort of panicked. Then they went to 11 and we started thinking ‘we have to score here’.

“But we weren’t getting to the points we said we were going to get to. We didn’t execute the plays we said we were going to execute.

“That was the really frustrating part for us. Ultimately it was that period where they went down to 11 that cost us.”

Warrington kept their 6-0 scoreline in tact and went in 12-0 up having added another try when back up to 13 players.

But Crooks, the former Castleford Tigers player who featured in the 2013 Cup final with Hull FC, scored a fine try after producing a one-on-one steal to start a rally.

“We did see the Cup as a massive chance for us to win some silverware this season,” said the 25-year-old, with Rovers struggling down in 11th spot.

“Unfortunately that’s gone, but now we have to put all our emphasis onto the league.

“We have got a fight on down at the bottom of the table, but if we show the desire and that intent shown in the second half for the rest of the season I reckon we can climb some places and cause some upsets.”

Rovers host defending champions Wigan on Sunday and he added: “That’s always a good test.

“No matter where they are on the table Wigan are a good team; they have some quality players, some internationals in there and it will be a massive test for us. But we won’t go too far wrong if we can show what we did in that second half.

“We play Wigan and then it’s Warrington again. It’s never -ending, the tough games, but that’s what we want to keep us on our toes and now we have to keep that standard for the rest of the year.”