Brett Hodgson assesses Luke Gale and Josh Reynolds following Hull FC's Catalans Dragons defeat

Brett Hodgson insisted half-back partnership of Luke Gale and Josh Reynolds is still a work in progress following their convincing loss against Catalans Dragons. FC turned in a lacklustre and flat display in Perpignan to fall to a second straight defeat and both Gale and Reynolds have come in for heavy criticism since.

The pair were under pressure to step up and fill the creative void left by Jake Connor, who has been ruled out for up to three months with a knee injury. However, they failed to do that as the Black and Whites struggled to pose a threat at the Stade Gilbert Brutus, scoring just twice through Josh Griffin and Darnell McIntosh.

Hodgson was understandably frustrated with his side’s showing and while he admitted his spine must improve, he also outlined his belief that the scoreline would have been same regardless of whether Jake Connor was playing.

“No, but we’ll keep looking at that,” Hodgson said when asked if there was a reason why Hull’s half-back partnership isn’t working. “I think they’re both trying hard at the moment but it didn’t click today so we’ll make sure we look at that and see how everyone around them can benefit as well.

“They’re not the only two, we had many players out there that were under their best today. They know they need to step up. The reality is that we don’t have a plethora of players coming back who are able to go into any position. We need to keep working hard and we need to come through this.

“If Jake plays today, the result is the same. Everyone will say Jake isn’t there so we’re not attacking and I understand that, there’s merit in that because everyone understands his strengths.

“But, if Jake plays today there’s no difference in the scoreline. We didn’t build pressure and we