Defeat will only drive Hull FC on to make amends, says Liam Watts

He gave Warrington Wolves’ Joe Westerman, his former Hull team-mate, a lift back to their native Castleford following Friday’s 23-6 defeat.

Westerman had his winners’ medal draped around his neck after helping Wolves to the victory that secured top spot – and denied Hull a potential treble.

Having lost to the Black and Whites in the Challenge Cup final at Wembley last month, it was at least some form of revenge for Tony Smith’s side.

Watts, 26, explained: “Me and Joe are best friends.

“It was an awful way for him to lose at Wembley so I’m happy for him.

“I’m taking him home now so I’m sure he’ll be giving it to me all the way back.

“For us, it’s disappointing but there’s always next week and a big one coming up. We need to make sure we get our heads down and are on for that.”

Hull had been Super League leaders for most of the season but fell to a finish of third so must head to second-placed Wigan on Friday as they seek to reach only their second Grand Final after the 2006 loss to St Helens.

FC have lost three of their last four games since winning at Wembley and looked badly fatigued against Warrington.

But Watts said: “They played really well; they moved us about.

“We’re a big set of forwards and they did that pretty well. We didn’t adapt to how they were playing and just didn’t execute as well as we normally do.

“That’s the bottom line; we had a fair share of the ball. Some tough calls went against us – some horrible calls – but that’s rugby league.

“We still have a chance in the semis to do something. To be fair, we’ve played better away this year anyway so it’s probably not crucial having to travel.

“There is no disadvantage. We’ve gone to Wigan and won and we played well last time at Wigan so we’ve got to go there now with a decent mindset and hopefully we’ll get the job done. We’re still confident of going on and doing this.”