Long questions Saints’ desire

St Helens’ interim coach Sean Long questioned his players’ desire after their disappointing 16-14 defeat at Widnes on Friday.

Saints went into the game on the back of an impressive performance against Castleford last Monday, but Long admitted his team fell short of that standard against the Vikings.

“I’m very disappointed as Widnes wanted it more than us – to put in two good performances over the weekend and then turn up with the attitude we did was disappointing,” said Long.

“Full credit to Widnes, they played with lots of energy. We got out enthused.

“Widnes defended really well and we got mugged a bit in the ruck. The last few weeks we’ve been really good in that area. We couldn’t get on the front foot.

“We’ve had plenty of chances, but we failed to execute.”