WOLVES must improve defensively if they are to beat Leigh Centurions on Saturday, half-back Dec Patton says.

The Wire’s 40-38 win at London Broncos on Saturday, a game in which Patton scored a try and kicked six goals, was their seventh in a row but their defensive display drew criticism from many observers.

Head of coaching and rugby Tony Smith also highlighted his side’s kicking game as an area of disappointment at Trailfinders Sports Club, something Patton says he takes full responsibility for.

The 22-year-old says the team cannot afford a similar performance when Neil Jukes’ Centurions visit The Halliwell Jones Stadium on Saturday.

“We’ve made this week about fixing up our defence and we need to put in an 80-minute performance on that front,” he said.

“At London, we started sloppily, had a good 20-30 minutes then we knocked off again.

“Against a side like Leigh, we cannot afford to do that so we’ve worked hard on our defence.

“We know if we are on our game in attack, we can get through anybody. Obviously, we have to watch out for what they can offer in attack and our defence needs to improve.

“London wasn’t a game in which I took control with the kicking game, so I will throw my hands up for that.

“We’ve touched on how important the kicking game and the kick chase will be this week so I know I need to improve in that respect.”

Wolves’ most recent meeting with Leigh was in July, when Patton was among the try-scorers in a dominant performance which led to a 50-10 Warrington victory.

However, the academy graduate says Saturday will be a much tougher game and expects the Centurions to “come out firing.”

“It will be a different challenge, especially given the situation we’re both in and the big games we have coming up,” he said.

“Our form has been a bit off even though we’ve been getting wins.

“We’re expecting them to come out firing because they are struggling for points.

“They’ve got good players all over the park, we have to be careful of that.

“We have to focus on ourselves though and make sure we bring our ‘A’ game.”

Patton has been a consistent feature in the Wolves first team, missing only six of their 30 games in all competitions this season.

With Kurt Gidley retiring, the way could be clear for the former Cardinal Newman High School student to cement a half-back position for next year but Patton said there was still work to do on that front.

The past five games have seen ex-Latchford Albion junior Patton partner Kevin Brown in the pivots and he says their relationship is getting stronger by the game.

“It is a lot more fluent between me and Kev now. We both have more understanding of what the other wants to do,” he said.

“It was only a matter of time before that happened.

“It’s starting to stick a bit now and we’re starting to work together a lot better. He allows me to do what I want to do more and vice versa.

“For next year, I hope I can nail a spot down but you never know what is going to go on over the winter with regards to who is going to come in.

“At the moment, I’ve got my fingers crossed!”