Peter Gentle expects Hull FC to find play off form

Hull FC coach Peter Gentle has challenged his side to find their play off form as the season reaches its end.

Gentle saw his side defeat Salford City Reds on Sunday afternoon 34-26, but he was disappointed to see Salford come back into the game.

He said: “We did our best to throw that one away at times. There was no lack of effort and it was gutsy from us, but we weren’t very smart at times. We kept sending them invitations to play some rugby against us with some silly penalties and one or two poor errors.

“We are looking at semi final rugby at the end of the season and we have to start playing a brand of football more suited to those games. We can’t afford to throw away 12-point leads in the play offs and we have to start being more ruthless.

“We are playing patches of very good football with some very good defence, but we are taking our foot off the opposition’s throat and we can’t keep doing it.”

However Gentle was pleased to see his side come away with the win on the back of a fierce Hull derby, something the Airlie Birds haven’t been able to do this season.

He said: “I’ve spoken before about the emotional drain and the physical pain of those games, so to pick up another win six days later will give us a lot of confidence.”