WOLVES head coach Tony Smith says losing top spot may serve them well in the long run.

After Smith’s men were beaten 34-14 by Castleford at Magic Weekend, nearest rivals Catalans and Hull FC both knew that wins on Sunday would move them up the table.

The French side were beaten by Wakefield, but the Black And Whites took their chance against Hull KR to go top of Super League.

“Everybody wants to stay top when they’re there but it might do us some good to be chasing for a little while,” Smith said.

“Sometimes it’s a little reminder that if you don’t do some of the little things well and you don’t respond to adversity in the right way, you can fall from your perch.

“It will probably do us some good but we’re no different to the support, we want our spot back.

“We thought the results were going to fall our way but there’s a long way to go so we need to just knuckle down and concentrate on the games ahead of us rather than worry too much about where we’re sitting in the competition.”

While still maintaining the league’s best defensive record, the Wire have now conceded 30-plus points two weeks in a row and Smith is looking for more steel from his side against Leeds tomorrow, Friday, kick off 8pm.

“There was a little period before half time that, up until then, I thought we were on top of things,” he said.

“Usually we’re a bit more resilient than that but they hit us between the eyes again pretty quickly.

“That flatness came through in the second half. Credit to our opponents as they spotted an opportunity and they took it whereas we need to be, and have been in different games this year, a bit more resilient than that.”