TONY Smith says a young Warrington Wolves side are heading in the right direction after defeat to Wigan Warriors at the DW Stadium.

Wolves opened a two-try lead in the first half but fell behind as Wigan ran out 30-20 winners.

But Smith says his Wolves side are progressing, despite the loss making it five defeats in six games.

“We’re heading in the right sort of direction, that’s for sure, and it takes good performances to beat us,” he added.

“We’re much more approved than a few weeks ago I’d say. “

And Smith says while the game produced some ‘special’ rugby, his young left edge were taught a few lessons by a potent Wigan.

“We got found out on a couple of occasions,” he said. “It’s a young edge but some learned bigger lessons than others, that happens and it’s all part of their development.

“We’ll go away and improve. The effort wasn’t anything we could criticise.

“We produce some of the best games between us, at the moment we’re coming out on the wrong side.

“Both coaches will probably be looking for some improvements from their defence through the game.

“There was some special rugby league played, some unreal tries. Some of the Wigan tries, sometimes you’ve just got to go ‘wow’ if they go to those sort of lengths to score then it’s pretty hard to stop.

“We learned a few lessons about controlling the game, I thought the start of the second half just while we kept them out, to concede before going into touch, and then that mega set when they were throwing it around like a basketball, really sapped our energy.

“We did well to come back after that but it hurts you. There’s a price to pay down the line and the second half wasn’t great for us.”