Catalans Dragons v Huddersfield Giants: Ian Watson plays down talk of four-pointer against play-off rivals

The Giants are outsiders in the race for the play-offs after winning just one of their last six fixtures, a run that has left Watson's men four points adrift of the top six.

Saturday's date with sixth-placed Catalans in Perpignan offers Huddersfield an opportunity to breathe life into their season but Watson is not treating the match as an early four-pointer.

"We've not spoken about that," he said.

"We're just focused on getting the wins and how performances can do that.

"We need to keep focusing on one game at a time and make sure we do our job."

The Giants finished ninth in a hugely disappointing 2023 campaign and carried their patchy form into this year.

Last season's Grand Finalists Catalans, meanwhile, have lost their way in recent months, winning just one of their last six games.

Huddersfield's season peaked when they stunned the Dragons in Perpignan in the Challenge Cup but Watson knows it will not be easy to get back to that form.

"The league table has been tight for the last couple of years in and around the play-off spots," he said.

"The league competition is tough and there isn't much between quite a lot of the teams. If you look at the scorelines, they tell you there's a distance between them, like our game at Hull KR. It looked like we were poles apart on the scoreboard but if you actually watched the game with a rugby eye, you could see there was nothing between us, especially the first 30 minutes.

"They're only small things that need addressing. When we last played Catalans we were getting the majority of things right and being real consistent.

"We need to get back to controlling games on our terms. We're pretty confident we can beat most teams if we do that."