Brett Hodgson on his Craven Park expectations as he prepares Hull FC side for 'hostile' atmosphere

Brett Hodgson will be stepping into the unknown when he takes his side to Craven Park on Good Friday. The Black and Whites’ head coach has had a taste of the Hull derby, seeing off the Robins in a breathless encounter at the MKM Stadium last August, but he has never been to east Hull as a head coach.

As such, he can only imagine the reception his players will receive when they make their way out onto the turf on Good Friday, but he’s calling on his Hull side to use the atmosphere to their advantage as they look to bounce back to winning ways.

“Yeah, I don’t know to be honest.” Hodgson said when asked about his expectations of Craven Park. “I know it’s going to be hostile, I know it’s going to be loud and I know it’s going to be fully packed out.

“It’s exciting and with that comes a little bit of pressure for them. We don’t have that crowd pressure for this game so we need to use the atmosphere and the intensity of the occasion to rise and make sure that we’re at the level that is going to give us a good performance and that’s what we’re looking to do.”

He added: “It is relevant that we’re away from home but it doesn’t dictate whether you win or lose. I think we have to make sure that we’re using the emotion, there’s going to be a hatred in the crowd, we know that and they’re going to be saying and chanting all sorts of things towards our players and staff.

“It’s a matter of making sure we’re playing the 80 minutes to the level we want to and if we do that, regardless of where we play, we’ll be in the game and that’s our focus.”