Cunningham praises Saints’ effort against Leeds

St Helens coach Keiron Cunningham has acknowledged that defence was not a strength of either team in last week’s 38-34 home win over Leeds.

He has praised the effort his team showed, though, in managing to achieve a victory against the reigning Super League champions.

“I think if I get too caught up in the defence from the game, then I’ll probably be pulling my hair out all week!” Cunningham smiled.

“It was a real open, free-flowing game. As much as we had little blips and we had one-on-one misses, generally our structures were pretty good.

“It’s hard to be critical of the boys, because their effort was phenomenal.

“It wasn’t for lack of trying. We all know Leeds can attack.

“Luckily we came out with the points.”

Cunningham will also have a strong group from which to pick a squad to face Castleford later this week, with players returning from injury and staying fit.

“Everybody came through unscathed, and we’ve got a couple of players who wweren’t available last week, who will be [this week],” he said.

“So there’s going to be headaches with selection.”