CHRIS Hill says the end of a 10-game winning run is “a reality check” for his Wire teammates.

Hill leads his side into battle against Hull FC tomorrow, Friday, with the aim of avoiding back-to-back defeats.

Saturday’s 38-10 defeat to Wigan Warriors at Magic Weekend was their first reverse in over two months, and the skipper admits it was “a slap in the face” for his side.

However, he says the team have reacted well and that their confidence has not been de-railed.

“The intensity has lifted again. Saturday was a slap in the face for us,” he told the Guardian.

“It’s never good to get beat, but we couldn’t realistically expect to go unbeaten for the rest of the year.

“It is a reality check. We want to be better than we are more consistently.

“I know we’ve won 10 on the bounce, but we wanted more. We’ve definitely upped things this week.

“We know we have the confidence within us, so that hasn’t been derailed by Saturday.

“We’ll learn our lessons, but how we bounce back will be a true test of how good a side we are.

“We’ve reacted well. We had a recovery day on Monday, video and a big training session on Tuesday.

“We’ve put some wrongs right and I’m confident we’ll be flying.”

Following the weekend’s round of fixtures in Newcastle, tomorrow’s opponents are once again breathing down The Wire’s neck.

In fact, the Black and Whites are likely to overtake their hosts with a victory at The Halliwell Jones Stadium.

However, Hill says this will be an important game for his side regardless of opposition.

Lee Radford’s men are without several key players, but the England prop says they are still a dangerous proposition.

“It would be a big game regardless of who we are playing. We want to pull away and get ourselves comfortably in the top four,” he said.

“Whether we’re playing Hull, Salford or Widnes, it’s a big game because we need to bounce back.

“It’s up to us to get back to the levels we should be at.

“They’ve got a quality set of young kids. They are a bit of a wounded animal, though, and that makes them dangerous.”

On Monday evening, Hill met up with his fellow members of England’s Elite Performance Squad as preparations continue for next month’s mid-season Test against New Zealand in Denver.

The 29-year-old is likely to be part of the squad that makes the journey Stateside, but says that is not his main motivation.

“We had a meeting on Monday night and had a bit of information about Denver.

“It will be a special occasion and hopefully, I get a seat on the plane.

“I’m focusing on getting things sorted for Warrington first, though.”

Hill will be without regular front-row partner Mike Cooper again tomorrow as he recovers from a hamstring injury.

The captain says he is happy to take on the extra responsibility.

“Coops has been big for us this year, but we have to cope with injuries. That’s part and parcel of this game,” he said.

“I try and put the onus upon myself to step things up every week.

“That’s not just because of being captain, but there’s a few young guys in there that are counting on senior players.

“We’ll all muck in together. We’ll be ready.”