Wakefield Trinity v Hull FC: Poching positive Trinity can claim elusive victory

Trinity, who play host to Hull tomorrow, have lost their last seven games and Poching admitted it has been a “difficult” time since four successive wins in March and April.

But he said the squad remain “positive and hungry” and is confident one victory will turn things around.

“We are chasing that win,” Poching said.

“That is what we are working hard for every single day.

“We are chasing that elusive win so we can hopefully get some confidence to roll on from that.

“We have got an opportunity to try and get that this week against a very good Hull side.

“We need to take the opportunity that’s presented to us.”

The coach insisted training has gone well since the 24-6 defeat by Leeds two weeks ago.

“I am seeing improvement in the quality of our ball control, which was a massive issue,” he stated.

“That has been a bit of a focus for us.

“I can’t question their attitude or effort in training, the way they’ve applied themselves every single day.

“We have got to transfer some of the good stuff we are doing in training now into the game.”

Trinity have trained as normal over the past fortnight, despite not having a game last weekend.

“We haven’t really had any time off,” Poching said.

“We had some time off for the last Cup round, but with the knowledge we get another break for the England [against Combined Nations] game this month, we felt it was necessary we spent the time wisely.

“It has been a valuable time for us.

“Some of the guys who didn’t play [against Leeds] were able to play in a reserves game last week, which was important for them. It was a chance for us as a coaching staff to have a look at them in a game, which is something you can’t simulate in training.

“Some of them have done their chances of selection no harm.”

Trinity will be without Liam Kay who was injured in training this week and Tom Johnstone remains on the casualty list.

Thomas Minns also drops out from the side which lost to Leeds, but Max Jowitt, Lewis Murphy, Nathan Battye, Brad Walker, Harry Bowes and Tinirua Arona are all vying for a recall.

Bill Tupou, who has been out of action for 11 months with a knee injury, played in Trinity’s reserves game last week, but won’t feature tomorrow.

“He took a little bit of a knock on the knee,” Poching said.

“He had a bit of a reaction to it.

“It is not too bad, it’s something we sort of expected, but we’ll see how he pulls up in the next week or two. We are going to take our time with Bill, do the right thing by him and not rush him.

He has got to build some muscle memory, some skill back up and some confidence.”

Hull’s only changes sees Brad Fash return to the squad following a head injury, in place of Carlos Tuimavave (hamstring strain).

Wakefield Trinity: from Jowitt, Lyne, Lineham, Miller, Lino, Battye, Hood, Arona, Ashurst, Tanginoa, Pitts, Crowther, Whitbread, Batchelor, Gaskell, Walker, Bowes, Murphy, Hall, Fifita, Butler.

Hull: from Connor, Swift, Griffin, McIntosh, Reynolds, Gale, Sao, Houghton, Satae, Ma’u, Lane, Lovodua, Evans, Fash, Brown, Johnstone, Bowden, Wynne, Scott, Shaul, Taylor.

Referee: Marcus Griffiths (Widnes).

Kick-off: Tomorrow, 3pm.