Wakefield Trinity in good place despite St Helens setback, insists Daryl Powell
Daryl Powell took encouragement from Wakefield Trinity's performance at St Helens, insisting his side are in a good place despite the setback.
Trinity's five-match winning run in Super League ended on Saturday after they paid the price for a slow start.
Saints led 16-0 at the interval and held off a second-half fightback from the visitors to close out an 18-12 win.
Wakefield have lost all four games against St Helens since their return to the top level but Powell is content with their start to the season.
"We're in a good place," said the Trinity boss, whose team are two points adrift of Leeds Rhinos ahead of Friday's trip to the leaders.
"If we're a little bit calmer in stressful situations, we're coming out on the right side of these scorelines.
"It's a long season. We lost our first game and everyone was worried about us. We've been great since then.
"We're unlucky not to be in a Challenge Cup semi-final. We're in a good position in the league but there's another stiff challenge against Leeds, who are flying."
After identifying the two games as "absolutely crucial" for Wakefield, Powell must pick his players up quickly from the disappointment of losing at the BrewDog Stadium.
Tyson Smoothy and Caius Faatili scored second-half tries but the damage had been done.
"I thought the game rattled us a little bit," said Powell. "We got in good attacking positions and are generally a pretty good attacking team but we weren't clinical enough, which put us in that position at half-time.
"It was a tough second half. I reckon Saints know they've been in a game.
"In the last few weeks, we've played Wigan and St Helens and could easily have won both games. We should believe that we should be winning both games.
"For us, it's a journey towards being one of the best teams in the comp. I honestly don't think we're that far away.
"This was another step in the right direction, even if the scoreline suggests otherwise. We didn't get the two points but I do feel we got a lot of respect and should feel good about ourselves. We're on the right trajectory."
Already without Max Jowitt, Mason Lino and Isaiah Vagana, Wakefield lost Tom Johnstone in the build-up to the Saints game as he manages an Achilles niggle.
Seth Nikotemo, meanwhile, will miss the clash with Leeds after sustaining a concussion.
"We're a couple of back-rowers down now," said Powell.
"Tom dropped out of the team. He's a cutting-edge player for us. Isaiah Vagana has been unbelievable.
"Everyone in the comp has been talking about injuries. We've been alright-ish but we've got a couple of big players missing.
"Mason and Max are missing as well but we're still in a good place to get after the rest of the season. We should feel even more confident after this."