VIDEO: Derby date with Airlie Birds loses some of its '˜lustre' for Hull KR coach Chris Chester

He was speaking ahead of Sunday’s game against the Airlie Birds at the KC Stadium that acts as one of their friendlies before the new Super League campaign starts on February 7 versus Castleford Tigers.

Such is the rivalry between Rovers and FC that even such pre-season contests ordinarily whip up a real frenzy, but Chester – whose side were badly vanquished 38-6 at home to Huddersfield Giants in Sunday’s opening warm-up – is worried the derby that dates back more than a century is losing some of its lustre.

“These games are never friendlies,” insisted the 37-year-old, who represented both clubs during his own playing career.

“But we play them three times in the league and we now play them in a friendly too.

“It can be five times sometimes and I just think that they’re not quite as special as what they used to be.

“We seem to play them so many times in a year that they’re not quite where they were.

“But they are still big games and they’re very important matches. I understand why the friendly is played, but we won’t be reading too much into the occasion on Sunday; it’s about a reaction to what happened against Huddersfield.”

Chester conceded that result was a “reality check” and admitted his flimsy side had not done enough contact work in the build-up, something they will remedy this week.

They must do so without a number of key personnel, however, as he revealed the Robins are set to be without two more influential players for the start of the season.

There is already a major concern that captain Terry Campese will not be ready for the Castleford game as he continues his recovery from a knee reconstruction, Chester yesterday saying he would not “start” that game as the Australian stand-off continues to take his rehabilitation week to week.

However, the head coach also revealed that former England hooker Shaun Lunt will undergo ankle surgery today and France second-row Kevin Larroyer may face a period on the sidelines after dislocating a shoulder against Huddersfield.

“I think Kevin will miss the start of the season,” Chester said, about the former Catalans Dragons player.

“The doctor popped his shoulder straight back in which was good, but we’ll wait and see what the specialist says.

“It’s just a matter of finding out how long he’ll be out for.

“Shaun will go in for surgery on Wednesday; he’s got a bursa on his ankle, which is some bone that needs removing. The worst case scenario with Shaun is six weeks, but the best is four so it rules him out of the first few games at least.”

Both are significant blows for Rovers, who are desperate to address their disappointing 2015.

While, of course, they reached the Challenge Cup final for the first time in 29 years they went on to endure a record 50-0 defeat to Leeds Rhinos and then failed to reach the top-eight play-offs, instead being forced to battle for Super League safety in the Qualifiers.

Chester, ahead of his second full season in charge, is second favourite to be the first Super League coach sacked in 2016.

“I thought I’d have been the favourite after the weekend,” he joked.

“It (pressure) comes with the territory; it’s part of the job and it doesn’t worry me too much.

“I’ve just got to get on with my job because it’s a job I’m very privileged to do.

“There is pressure every day in this job and it’s all about results.

“We want to make the top eight first and foremost because we were disappointed in missing out last year.

“But we feel we’ve got a stronger squad than last year; we just need a little bit of luck along the way.

“It’s a skinnier squad, but there’s genuine first-grade players throughout, and we have lads we won’t worry about throwing in at the deep end.”

Chester admitted he has regrets about what occurred in 2015.

“I made some poor decisions along the way,” he said.

“I’m an honest guy and there were some things I did wrong in terms of team selection and the way we played on occasions.

“We tried to be too fancy instead of trying to grind games out – I’ve learned some lessons and I’m sure the players have too.”