Frustrated Hanbury takes some positives

Widnes full-back Rhys Hanbury expressed his frustration at the club’s injury woe but said there were some positives in defeat against Hull.

The Vikings were missing no fewer than 10 players, including top scorer Krisnan Inu, Hep Cahill and Patrick Ah Van, as they went down 39-20.

Youngster Keanan Brand was added to the list last weekend after breaking his leg six minutes in to his Super League debut at Hull KR.

Another youngster, Owen Farnworth, became the 31st player Widnes have used already this season when he came on as an interchange substitute in the first half.

And during the game, Widnes lost Chris Dean to a torn bicep and captain Chris Houston went off early in the second half with a knee injury.

Hanbury said: “For two years running we’re getting bad injuries. We can’t finish the game with the same 17.

“Denis has got to throw people into the centres and wing and we’ve got to change people around, but it’s just not good enough.

“We had two more big losses. Chris Dean was just back from his head knock and Howzo’s been one of our best players this year. It’s just where we are at the moment and we’ve got to keep going.”

Trailing 12-0 early on, Widnes hit back to take the lead at 14-12 through Tom Olbison in the second half, before a three try blitz inside five minutes swung the game in Hull’s favour.

Olbison’s second stemmed the tide, but Hull added gloss to the scoreline with two late tries.

Hanbury added: “We stuck with them and they just rolled out at the end. The score’s not a reflection of the game, but it’s disappointing.

“We didn’t start well and we bounced back, we showed our determination and our willngness to work for each other but then the injuries, I don’t want to make excuses, but it’s getting hard.

“We’re not the biggest squad and we can’t really afford injuries, especially to Chris Houston and Chris Dean and Krisnan Inu is a big loss. We’ve just got to keep on going and the boys are going to dig in.

“We showed great team spirit for most of the game and they just blew us away. We’ve got to concentrate now on the Challenge Cup and get some confidence from it and put in a performance.

“Hopefully we’ll stop getting injuries. I think there’s some positives from the game, but we’ll just keep on going.”

Widnes take a break from Super League action next weekend as they welcome Coventry Bears to the Halton Stadium in the Challenge Cup.