Hull FC v Huddersfield Giants: Ian Watson rues misfortune ahead of dead rubber

Huddersfield's top-six chances are officially over following a fourth defeat in five games against Hull KR last week.

The Giants left themselves with too much to do after winning just five of their opening 16 matches, a start that included five losses by six points or fewer.

Huddersfield have been hampered by injury issues throughout the year, which Watson believes contributed to his side being edged out in tight games.

"Some of them hurt us," said Watson, who could only name a 20-man squad for tomorrow's trip to Hull FC.

"You look at the start of the year and the 14-12 defeats (against Wigan Warriors and St Helens). With Hull FC, we've won one and lost one which probably shows you the tightness of the competition.

"Everybody panics but I've tried not to panic. I don't like the situation we're in. It's disappointing where we're sat but when you look at some of the main players that have been taken out of our team and then look at the tight results.

"We've been in and around competing for the top six. Whichever way you look at it, we've hung in there. It's only last week where we've pushed ourselves out of it.

"The games you lose by two to four points come down to the quality of players you've got out there on the day or being willing to go that little bit extra."

Watson expects his team to be better for the harsh lessons they have learned in 2023.

"Week in, week out you have to be a seven or eight out of 10 otherwise it's not good enough," he added. "That's probably credit to where the competition is.

"In some ways, we'll look back and say this year has been a real big learning curve for us and one that kicks us on going forward.

"I would have loved to have gone through a full season with Theo (Fages), Josh Jones, Olly Russell and people like that available every week.

"Go through the league table and you can see which teams have had settled spines. A team that has used 30-40 players isn't sat near the top of the table unfortunately because they've had too much inconsistency and no continuity on the field.

"I wouldn't have understood this in my first few years of coaching but understand it now because I'm a little bit more experienced. Do I like it? No I don't. I absolutely hate it. But it is what it is and I know we'll be better for it going forward."

Hull are level on points with the Giants heading into the penultimate round after failing to build on a promising period in the middle of the campaign.

The objective for Tony Smith's side in the final two rounds is to overcome a mental barrier amid a familiar late-season collapse.

"I think some of our result last week was affected by the players trying too hard to get the monkey off their back about finishing the season not so well," said Smith on the defeat at Castleford Tigers. "I think they overdid it

"The players are trying to set the record straight but sometimes it can be frustrating for them and they can go about it in a slightly wrong way rather than sticking to the processes and having faith.

"Sometimes you don't have to push things in order to get the right result. That's our challenge this week."