DESPITE watching his Warrington Wolves side lose to St Helens on Friday night, interim head coach Gary Chambers says he could not ask for much more from his players.

The Wire were edged out by their neighbours despite turning the screw in the second half as they attempted in vain to fight back from a 12-0 half-time deficit.

Here is what Chambers had to say in his post-match press conference...

Q: It was a thrilling game to watch from our perspective but how was it for you?

GC: It’s tough to take.

We had a short turnaround but I can’t and won’t knock their efforts. I was really proud of what they put in effort-wise.

In terms of execution, we could have been better and we have to be better, but I’ve got to be happy with the shift they put in. They turned up for each other.

At half time, we’re on the back of a 90 per cent completion for them and 65 per cent for us and we were beaten up, to be honest.

To come out and dig deep, I’ve got to be proud of the effort you put in.

Q: What sparked that fightback in the second half because, as you alluded to, you struggled pretty badly in that first half?

GC: I thought at the end of the first half, the arm wrestle started to go our way a little bit – Saints’ line speed wasn’t as intense and we were starting to poke our nose through the line.

There’s only so much energy you can expend, and I thought they’d expended a lot. We’d absorbed a lot, but I thought we were getting going so I just told them to believe.

It was led by them – they could feel it but all credit to St Helens. They’re a champion team and they just get on their line and bash you.

Q: Do you take heart from the durability you showed as in theory, the amount of defending you had to do should have emptied your tank?

GC: Our job now over the next week is to channel that and find a way to bring it to every performance.

It’s in there, we’ve got to bring it out and we’ve got to use it.

Q: Leon Hayes had a lot of traffic sent his way defensively but seemed to deal with it very well, then grew in confidence with the ball. How do you rate his performance?

GC: I’m really happy – he did exactly what I thought he would do.

With both him and Connor (Wrench), they don’t fully know how we’re playing at the moment so there was a couple of times where we got caught with the ball.

Connor tried to tip a couple of times when he should have been running, but both applied themselves really well.

As the game went on, Leon started having a go at the line and thinking “I can handle this.”

It’s about nurturing now and keeping developing him. He’s going to be very important for the club moving forward.

Q: Obviously, you will hope to have George Williams back next week but has Leon made a strong case for staying in the team?

GC: 100 per cent he has.

He said himself after the game that he was chasing it in the first 15 minutes, and all he did was tackle and run backwards.

After that, he just said “it was just a game of rugby.” He’ll take loads out of that.