Hull KR coach Tony Smith frustrated about Catalans Dragons result as he explains Ethan Ryan decision

Tony Smith was left to reflect on one that got away after Hull KR suffered an 18-10 defeat to Catalans Dragons in Perpignan.

Rovers went in level at the break but they were kept scoreless in the second half as Catalans ground out a fifth straight victory.

Smith believes the Robins deserved more for their efforts, although he did concede the Dragons just about edged it.

"There was an opportunity there for us," he said.

"I'm a bit frustrated by it. I've seen Catalans play better. Whether that was down to us or they were a little bit off it, I felt there was an opportunity for us to go home with a bit more than what we're going home with.

"I thought our defence was really good, really good. The criticism I've got of my team is our attack just wasn't clinical enough at times, or when we did create opportunities we didn't run with enough support to finish it off.

"Rarely does it happen where you put in the effort and don't get your just rewards, and rarely does the wrong team win in rugby league...

"I'm cutting short of that. I'm probably a little biased to make a fair call on that. Overall, they probably were the better team in the end."

Smith included Ethan Ryan on the bench after losing Matt Parcell as well as Kane Linnett and Dean Hadley from the team that beat Salford Red Devils last week.

But the winger did not get on during a tense second half as Smith opted to rotate his middles, with Ryan now set to play for the reserves against St Helens on Saturday.

"It was a hard game to get him into," Smith explained.

"We had every intention of getting Ethan on there, particularly for Jez (Litten) but Jez managed to get the 80 minutes out. He did a big stint too and was good for most of it.

"We were going to use Jimmy (Keinhorst)