Brett Hodgson disappointed but not disheartened by Wigan loss as he gives injury update

Brett Hodgson was disappointed but not disheartened by his side’s 19-18 loss to Wigan Warriors. A Harry Smith drop goal was the difference between the two sides at the DW Stadium as the Black and Whites fell to their first defeat in four games.

Jai Field scored twice for Wigan on the night, giving the Warriors the lead before pulling them back level in the second half after tries from Adam Swift, Danny Houghton and Chris Satae. The loss was a bitter pill to swallow for FC, but Hodgson insists they will take plenty from the tough, gritty match.

“It was a tough contest,” Hodgson said after the game. “I’m unbelievably proud of the effort off a short turnaround, we only had the captain’s run really to prepare for this one so a lot of this game was getting up mentally and I thought we did that.

“Early in the game we probably had to defend too much and that probably cost us at the end of the game, we probably weren’t clinical enough to shut it out and I thought we had more than enough chances to win the game, especially when we were 18-12 up. They’re lessons that we’re still learning about each other and about the certain parts of the game but I’m proud of the effort.

“A classy player on the opposition hurt us twice and that was probably the difference. We spoke about stopping him but it’s harder to do than to talk about. We’ll learn lessons from today and we are moving in the right direction, I’ve got no doubt about that.”

The Black and Whites were missing Carlos Tuimavave and Kane Evans in Greater Manchester but Hodgson expects them to be available for the Challenge Cup clash at Huddersfield Giants next week.

“They both just tightened up at the end of the week,” he added. “I don’t think there’s any issues with either of