THE return to training of Wolves’ England players will bring the intensity of pre-season “up a few gears,” centre Toby King says.

Chris Hill, Kevin Brown, Stefan Ratchford and Ben Currie will all report back to The Wire’s Padgate training base today, Thursday, after an extended break from the game.

All four players featured in England’s run in the Rugby League World Cup, with Hill, Brown and Currie all starting the 6-0 final defeat to hosts Australia in Brisbane on December 2.

However, they are now refocused on club affairs, with Ben Murdoch-Masila set to join them imminently once his visa paperwork comes through.

King says their arrival has been eagerly anticipated by the rest of the squad as they continue their efforts under head coach Steve Price.

“For the past seven weeks, the training has been absolutely class. Everyone has been trying to impress Steve.” he said.

“It’s been tough but really good. Everyone knows their roles.

“The England boys come back into training on Thursday, so the levels will go up a few gears again.

“Steve’s put some new systems and beliefs into the club and it’s going really well so far.”

The Wire got their first chance to show what they have been working on under Price on Friday but, despite a late fightback, they slipped to a 26-22 friendly defeat to Widnes Vikings.

King started in the centres and, after briefly leaving the field to receive treatment for a cut to his face, scored two of Wolves’ four tries as they came from 26-0 down to almost snatch victory.

Having made only six appearances in 2017 before suffering a season-ending hamstring injury, the 21-year-old says he was just happy to get valuable minutes under his belt.

He also says that, despite the late comeback, the team was far from happy with their display at the Halton Stadium.

“It was really good to get back out there and get 80 minutes under my belt again. It’s been a while and I’d really missed it!” he said.

“I’ve had a really good medical team around me for the past few months and it’s a credit to them that I’ve been able to get back fit again.

“I had quite a few stitches in my face, but I just wanted to get back out there.

“I’ve missed too many minutes and I didn’t want to miss any more!

“I managed to get over a couple of times which was nice and the boys picked up down the stretch.

“We had them on the run at the end but it was a shame we couldn’t nick it.

“It’s a really new group, but we were really disappointed with how Friday went.

“We didn’t perform well enough, especially in the first half.”

Having enjoyed some time off over the new year period, the squad regroups today, Thursday, to continue their pre-season campaign.

With the 2018 Super League season opener against Leeds Rhinos only four weeks away, Wolves have two more friendlies before the competitive action starts.

King sees them as the perfect opportunity for putting right what went wrong against the Vikings, starting with the trip to Championship side Rochdale Hornets on Saturday, January 13.

“It was good to finish the Widnes game on a positive note, but there’s a lot we’ve still got to work on,” he said.

“We’ve had a bit of time off over the new year but we had chats immediately after the game.

“We’re straight back in with review on Thursday so we can pinpoint what we need to work on.

“We’ve got time to do it and I’m sure we’ll be on the right track come February 1.”