Huddersfield Giants v Catalan Dragons: Top eight finish still possible despite losing run '“ Cudjoe

They host Catalans Dragons tonight still searching for what will only be a third win from 10 games this term.

However, they fought back from 14-0 down at St Helens on Friday to secure a 14-14 draw having also earned a point on the road at champions Wigan Warriors earlier in the year.

There have been plenty of question marks hanging over Rick Stone’s side who, of course, finished bottom last season and faced a nervous battle to avoid relegation.

Furthermore, they have yet to win in any of their last six outings.

But England centre Cudjoe, who returns after missing the Saints game with a knee strain, told The Yorkshire Post: “The boys will gain a lot of confidence from that result.

“To be 14 points down at half-time away from home is always tough but they showed great attitude and work-rate to get something out of the game.

“The week before (at Castleford) we were in a similar position and came out for the second half and got rolled so it shows we are starting to head in the right direction if we keep working for each other smartly.

“Easter can be a good time for some teams and a bad time for others. But it is a chance to put some good results together and get some points on the board.

“We want a good Easter to get some points so we can climb that table and I’m confident we can.”

Giants, unusually, are playing tonight rather than Good Friday as Championship high-fliers Huddersfield Town are playing then at John Smith’s Stadium against Preston North End.

It does mean the Super League side will not have the traditional problematic issue of such a short turnaround before Easter Monday’s second game of the holiday period at 11th-placed Warrington.

Huddersfield-born Cudjoe, 29, conceded: “Playing Wednesday will be different but shouldn’t have too much impact and we get a few days extra recovery between games so hopefully that works to our advantage.

“I do hope Town go on and get to the Premier League, too.

“I think they’ll miss out on automatic promotion but then win the play-off final.

“That would be great for the town for them to get into the Premier League and a great achievement with the money they have spent compared to the bigger clubs in the league.”

Cudjoe, meanwhile, knows Catalans cannot be taken lightly despite their own inconsistent form.

The French club have won just three times so far and, if Huddersfield can add another defeat to their name, they will replace them in eighth spot.

Admittedly, Catalans did pick up an encouraging 37-26 victory at Leigh Centurions last week which pointed at a revival.

“That was a great win; they are a team that can score points and really hurt you if you gift them a lot of possession,” continued Cudjoe.

“Luke Walsh is playing well, controlling their attack well and he has a great kicking game.

“We have to defend up well against Tony Gigot, too, and Krisnan Inu who are great attacking players when given space. We need to be good defensively.

“But Catalans have been similar to most teams this year apart from Castleford who have been standout; everyone else is beating each other which shows how competitive the league is.

“We’ve just got to focus on ourselves and improve on the way we ended the game last Friday.”

Huddersfield could, at last, see their NRL signing Jake Mamo finally make his debut.

The Australian full-back arrived from Newcastle Knights in February as a replacement for Wakefield-bound Scott Grix but has only just recovered from a broken ankle.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing Jake play,” added Cudjoe, who won the League Leaders’ Shield with Giants in 2013. “He’s certainly going to add some speed and energy to the team.

“He looks really good in training but we can’t expect too much from him straight away; he needs to get used to the game over here and improve on combinations with the boys which will come with game-time.”

That said, Darnell McIntosh has shown moments of class so far, too, the 19-year-old from Huddersfield who made his debut against Hull FC last month and played in all five matches since.

He scored twice at Saints and Cudjoe said: “Darnell is going really well for us.

“He’s a confident kid that sometimes has lapses in concentration but that’s expected as a young player. We’ve all been there.

“I think he’s been one of our better performers this year and is really improving each week.

“It is good to see an academy player come through and play well like that.”

Meanwhile, forward Oli Roberts supported Cudjoe’s belief regarding pushing on into the upper echelons.

“We’ve made a better start than last year and, if we can seal that top-eight place, that’s the goal,” said the former Bradford Bulls player. “It’s good over the Easter period with these tightly-packed games because, if you get some points, you can quickly move up.

“Getting out of the bottom four would help take a bit of pressure off the boys and enable us to play a bit more freely and a bit more openly to try that 50-50 play.

“When you are a bit loose, those 50-50s come off but, when everyone’s a bit nervous or tense about knocking-on or giving a penalty or error away, you don’t really go for that stuff.

“We’ve proved we can compete with the big teams. Sometimes we switch off and the errors kill us. If we can knock those out and do the stuff we do right more often, we can seal a couple of wins.”