WOLVES boss Tony Smith says he accepts flak will be aimed at him and his players after the horror show against Wigan on Friday night.

Playing poorly for a fourth successive defeat, Wolves were nilled for the first time in their 12 seasons at The Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Wolves’ head of coaching and rugby said after the 28-0 loss, which effectively ended any remaining slim hopes of a top-four finish: "Fans are fans, supporters are supporters - people who support through the good and the tough times.

"We've had plenty of good times and we've had some pretty tough times as well.

"People unite to make things strong.

"Flak can be thrown at players and coaches, that's fine, that's part of the remit of the job.

"But people who support their team when they go through tough times, they're supporters and that's why we call them that.

"We've got plenty of good support here. There'll be some fans and some people who on the night of the game feel embarrassed and they've been chanted at by the opposition - it builds emotions.

"That's rugby league. Rugby league is an emotional game but the real supporters pull together and come through it."

Smith was asked if he and the players were hurting after the final hooter sounded?

"Absolutely, tough," he said.

"It's not nice down there in the dressing rooms.

"We care. We've got a lot of pride. We've got a lot of pride in our team, our badge, our club and in what we do.

"We don't like not being great. We want to be great and we're going to be great again.

"Some people out there and some people in the media will kick us to death for a while and that's fine, we probably need a bit of kicking, but we'll bounce back and be strong again."