Horne confident Hull can overcome the loss of injured Long

The former Great Britain scrum-half delivered one of his best performances in a Black and White jersey to inspire their 36-18 Good Friday win over Hull KR.

However, Long suffered a broken finger during the match and is expected to be out for six weeks.

It is a significant blow for coach Richard Agar as he looks to build on the success, knowing another win this afternoon would lift his side into the top eight.

Warrington have hit some prolific form, though, thrashing Salford City Reds 60-0 in their own opening Easter fixture, having previously eased past Crusaders 64-6.

Hull stand-off Richard Horne, who will now have to take on a bigger organisational role in Long’s absence, admitted: “It is going to be another tough one, similar to the derby.

“Warrington are big and physical but we’ll get ourselves up for it.

“It’s tough for everyone this period but every side has to go through it.

“It’s going to be about energy levels. If we can play like we did against Rovers – control the ball, get to our kicks and build pressure, hopefully, that pressure will end in more points again for us.

“We were more composed against Rovers and we have to do that again.”

Horne added: “Longy’s got vast experience, especially in the big games, and that showed but we’ll have to battle on without him.”

Hull have yet to deliver consecutive wins this season, the sort of inconsistency which has plagued their progress.

Horne admits they have to start producing on a more regular basis and, with St Helens arriving at the KC Stadium in a week’s time, he said: “We know we need to win a fair few wins now leading into the back end of the season to put is in good sted for the play-offs.

“We’re going to have a good rally and aim to start building.”

Hull Kingston Rovers entertain Harlequins today while Castleford Tigers look to put the disappointment of their shock loss against Wakefield Trinity behind them when they journey to St Helens, where they have still yet to win in the Super League era.

Trinity, meanwhile, are likely to include new signing Gareth Moore in their squad for the visit of champions Wigan while stunned Huddersfield aim to bounce back from their abysmal defeat at bottom-placed Crusaders when they host Salford City Reds tomorrow night.