Video - Liam Watts is refusing to get too excited at Hull FC start

He was in impressive form once more when helping the Airlie Birds to a 37-20 win over struggling Huddersfield Giants on Friday, a result they will look to repeat when heading to similarly troubled Leeds Rhinos later this week.

The win, Hull’s seventh from 1o games so far, sees them up to third, level with second-placed Catalans Dragons and just two points behind leaders Warrington Wolves.

Hull have never won a Grand Final and the last time they lifted the league title was in 1983, before Watts was even born.

Hopes of emulating that will certainly rise if they maintain this form but the 25-year-old said: “It’s only early days.

“We’re not even half way through the season yet so let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

“We’ll keep playing how we’re playing and hopefully cement our place in the top four.

“It’s so tight up there it’s unreal. It’s the tightest it’s been at this stage of the season for quite a long time but Friday’s win does put us in there further up the table.”

In what was his 100th appearance for the club since joining from Hull KR in 2012, Watts also scored a try following an audacious dummy when angling behind the ruck that left Huddersfield’s Joe Wardle fooled and floored.

“I couldn’t have written it better really,” said the front-row, who hopes to push for England honours this term.

“I knew it (100) was coming up as I’d been told earlier in the week but I couldn’t believe how it just panned out with that try going straight through. It was nice to get my first one of the season and especially in a game like that which was touch and go for quite a long period. It was a great win in the end.

“We’d practiced the move in training on Thursday and talked about Huddersfield not moving up on the other side (of the ruck).

“I was going to hit Frank (Pritchard) but when they saw him running they held off and it just paved the way for me to go through.

“It’s good these little moves are working.”

The turning point for Hull’s own run of form, meanwhile, was their famous derby win at Hull KR on Good Friday when recovering from a 20-0 deficit to win.

“We’d won our first two, lost three on the bounce and then everyone was writing us off,” added Watts.

“But we just started throwing the ball around at KR when we were 20-nil down and then the next thing we’re going five on the bounce.

“It’s just how easy it is. If you don’t turn up on game day or are just a little bit of off, there’s a chance you will get beat.

“But we’ve stuck to our game plan and, again against Huddersfield, turned a game on its head and come away winning convincingly.”

Now Hull will look to pile more misery on Leeds after the defending champions’ dire start to the season continued on Saturday.

They lost 14-10 at Salford Red Devils and have won just twice in 10 league games so far with only Huddersfield below them in the table.

FC will venture to Headingley on Friday looking for a sixth successive win but Watts knows their Yorkshire rivals will turn things around soon so they have to be wary.

“They are another team like Huddersfield,” he said.

“We knew what Huddersfield would do – kick early, try and keep turning us around as we’re a big team – and they did that.

“It was a really tough game for us until we started coming away a bit in the final quarter with Marc Sneyd guiding us around.

“Leeds have a lot of class players, too, and they don’t become a bad team overnight.

“They’re searching for a win against us and we’ve had few close encounters over the last couple of years so we know it will be tough again. We have to turn up once more. The Easter period is still catching up with us and there’s blokes with a few niggly injuries but apart from that we’re just looking forward to it and taking the challenge one game at a time starting with Leeds.”

Winning is becoming a habit for Hull and their coach Lee Radford. Excluded from a team talk after a 40-point drubbing at Widnes last month, Radford has seen his side go on a five-game winning run to lend support to thoughts of a top-four tilt.

“The manner of the way we are playing, we have shown we can put points on the table,” he said.

“It’s a cliche, but you’ve not seen the best of us. There’s a lot of improvement there and we’re just happy to be picking up points.

“I’m over the moon with tonight. We had to work for it. It was never going to be spectacular and I’m really pleased.”