AT this point, we should be starting to see progress from this Warrington Wolves side.

Some short-term pain was always to be expected as teething problems are inevitable when a team’s style of play is being completely overhauled.

However, it is safe to say it has been quite a bit more painful that anybody was expecting, and the long-term gain feels like a distant spot on the horizon at the moment.

Rather than moving forwards, it feels like Warrington are going backwards on this evidence.

Once again, they were beaten by a side simply doing the basic fundamentals of rugby league and doing them well.

With dashes of adventure thrown into the mix, Wakefield ran and tackled harder than their hosts and were superbly led around the field by Jacob Miller and Mason Lino in the halves.

In stark contrast, The Wire were off in almost every area and after a reasonable start, they allowed their visitors into the game by the kind of sloppy play that has punctuated the opening six rounds.

“Six agains” given away on the final play, needless late hits to concede penalties on your own line, ambitious, low-percentage offloads that cough up possession early in the count – all of that and more made up a smorgasbord of woes.

Better tackle control would have prevented two of the three first-half tries they conceded while once again, the game finished with a try conceded off the back of atrocious defending.

With the ball, wires were crossed and too often the play was too lateral and easy to defend against – you would struggle to remember many instances of Warrington throwing some shape at their opponents.

You have to look to your half-backs in that instance, but they need a platform to work from and once again, that is where the size of the pack has to be called into question.

Putting all of that to one side, though, the biggest disappointment by a country mile was the effort levels, which were way below the standard that would be deemed acceptable.

Losses can be forgiven if it appears a team has put 100 per cent in but as Daryl Powell himself stated post-match, not doing that as a bare minimum is simply unforgiveable.

And now comes the jeopardy – to many in the stands, the Challenge Cup is now the only viable option of silverware.

Having cantered back over the Pennines with their first win at The Halliwell Jones Stadium since 2014, Wakefield return on Sunday aiming to end another proud Wire record of reaching at least the quarter finals in every season since 2009.

For them, it will be a case of “more of the same” but for Warrington, there is so much that needs to be put right.

What can be said for certain, though, is that if they do the same things, they can expect the same result and plenty more criticism from the terraces.