Determined Galea expects to see major improvement from Hull KR

RETURNING Hull KR captain Ben Galea has warned his side that Salford City Reds are more than capable of the same clinical finish as Hull FC if they fail to improve today.

The fit-again Australian second-row made his first appearance of the season after coming off the bench in the 36-6 Good Friday defeat at their high-flying city rivals.

Influential Galea, 33, is now expected to start this afternoon as Rovers – with just three wins this term – head to Salford.

Their opponents lost 30-10 against leaders Huddersfield Giants on Good Friday and are just a point ahead of the East Yorkshire club in the table but have picked up some notable wins, including success over Hull FC.

Galea told the Yorkshire Post: “From what I’ve seen they’ve been playing some great expansive football so far and are throwing the ball around.

“They’re a dangerous team who can beat anyone on their day as they have proven already this year.

“We have to be ready to go and can’t concede the number of penalties we did at Hull on Friday as we know that good sides will punish you.

“We’ve found that out already.”

Galea reported no ill-effects after playing 55 minutes in his comeback from knee ligament surgery.

“The knee felt absolutely brilliant,” he said.

“I’m really happy with how it felt... although the rest of me might be an issue.

“I’m just delighted to be back, It has been a long lay-off for me and a quite frustrating start to the season so I’m looking forward now.

“I had been hoping that I would have a little bit more impact than I did against Hull but, unfortunately, we didn’t get much ball and were mainly defending as they played smart, disciplined and took their opportunities.

“It’s something we have to look at for when we play Salford. We’ve not had too much time to brew over what happened and we have to focus on Monday but I’m sure we’ll bounce back.

“We’re not far away and we just need to stick together and be more disciplined.”

Hull KR coach Craig Sandercock is likely to be without loose forward Rhys Lovegrove as he suffered concussion in the derby defeat at the KC Stadium so Keal Carlile may feature.

Stand-off Blake Green – out all season with a blood clot in his leg – was included in the 19-man squad on Friday but has since been told by his specialist that he cannot return to action until next weekend.