Evans in battle to keep spot (From Warrington Guardian)

Warrington Wolves centre Rhys Evans ready for selection battle with returning Chris Bridge

7:00am Friday 8th March 2013 in Wolves news By Christopher Terris Taylor

RHYS Evans knows Wolves must improve if they are to return to winning ways against fierce rivals St Helens at The Halliwell Jones Stadium.

The 20-year-old centre was under no illusions following Warrington’s disappointing 26-12 defeat to Hull KR, admitting that his side have work to do in order to banish some of the mistakes that hampered their performance against the Robins.

“We will not be able to perform the way we did in Hull and get a result against Saints,” said the England Knights international.

“We have to put as much effort into training this week as we can in order to get back to where we need to be.

“There are no excuses from us and we have to try and get rid of the errors and build towards a better performance for Friday.

“It is still early in the year and sometimes you take time to hit your best, and though we don’t want to peak too early we have to improve.

“Saints are coming off a loss as well and will be tough, but it is a ‘derby’ game that we will be looking forward to.”

Evans is hoping to equal his longest run in the first team with selection against Saints, matching the six-game run he enjoyed in 2011 when covering the injury to Matt King.

He has already played as many games in 2013 as he did in 2012, but he faces sterner competition for a place as Wolves welcome Chris Bridge back from the knee injury that has kept him out of action since victory against Widnes in September.

Evans is optimistic about giving the 28-year-old a run for the spot he had made his own after the departure of Martin Gleeson in 2009.

“I am happy with how I’m going, I’m doing all right,” he said.

“Obviously I want to be doing better and always work to improve, but if I keep my spot I’ll be happy with that.

“Chris is a very good player, an international, but if I keep playing well then hopefully that will take care of itself.”