Huddersfield Giants v Warrington Wolves: Luke Yates talks up importance of final two games

The Giants are virtually guaranteed a top-four finish ahead of home dates with Warrington Wolves and Wakefield Trinity, meaning the pressure is off in the last week of the regular season.

But Huddersfield still have work to do to secure third and an eliminator against the sixth-placed team at the John Smith's Stadium in week one of the play-offs.

Yates has stressed the importance of bouncing back from last week's painful defeat at Leeds Rhinos.

"It's really important to get some momentum building into the play-off series and confirm third spot," Yates told The Yorkshire Post.

"To have a home game in the first round is massive. We've only been beaten at home by Saints this year - and we didn't have our best team out that day - so it's been a bit of a fortress for us.

"While we're not overlooking them, we've got to box these next two results off to rip into the play-offs."

Should the Giants finish third and win their play-off eliminator, they would travel to Wigan Warriors in the semi-finals as the highest-ranked winners.

Whether Huddersfield face Wigan or St Helens, Yates has total belief that they will rise to the occasion after coming up just short in the Challenge Cup final.

"That sort of stuff excites me, for sure," he added.

"I feel like we owe Wigan one from the cup final. Against Saints (at the Totally Wicked Stadium), we were far from our best and got dominated by them so we've got a bit of a point to prove against them as well.

"There's no easy team that you're going to play out of those two so whoever it is, it is.

"I'm confident with our squad that we can get the job done against them on the night and upset them."