Brett Hodgson has previewed Thursday’s clash at the MKM Stadium as the Black & Whites prepare to take on Leeds Rhinos, and has expressed his excitement to see his squad playing in front of an unrestricted crowd.
Hull take on their West Yorkshire rivals tomorrow night, with Hodgson believing a home crowd can be a big help towards a positive performance for his side.
However, FC’s head coach knows his side mustn’t solely rely on the supporters within the stadium for their motivation, and expects a response from his players after last week’s defeat to Huddersfield.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, brought to you in association with Jacuzzi, Hodgson said: “It’s really exciting for us. I’ve played in front of big crowds here before and there is no better atmosphere in the competition when the fans get going.
“Hopefully they’re going to come out in force, and we’ll aim to put in one of our best performance of the season so far to reflect that and them coming back in full for the first time.
“We’ll need to invest in the start of the game though. If we do those little things well, the crowd become a big help. We don’t want to use the crowd to bring us home – we want to do that ourselves.”
And Hull will be boosted by the return of several key players to the squad this week.
“We will have a number of pivotal players back too which is really important for us,” he added.
“Josh Reynolds, Manu Ma’u, Connor Wynne, Joe Cator and Bureta Faraimo are all back in contention.
“It’s a big boost, but we don’t want to use the excuse of having playing come back after a while out with the Covid-19 protocols – that came across last week but we needed to apply ourselves better in the game ultimately.
“We’ve had a response in training. We haven’t just walked past the issues that arose during that game, but we think that they’re very easily fixed. As a coach, I got a couple of things wrong last week which I have held my hand up to too.”
Hodgson also looked at the prospect of taking on the Rhinos, who come into the game on the back of some improved performances as they hunt down a play-off spot.
“They’re playing well; they’ve been unlucky over the last couple of weeks but we’re expetionally good against Salford last week.
“You have to win the early tackles. Stopping the likes of Hurrell and Briscoe coming out of yardage is important, and closing down their attacking players in Myler, Leeming and Dwyer, and controlling the ruck.
“They play what they see, which can be hard to defend at times.”
Hodgson also commented on Marc Sneyd, who is set to make his 250th career appearance tomorrow evening.
“He has been brilliant. He has stepped ahead with his leadership of the group, and it was a no-brainer for me to include him in the captaincy group given that he leads us around he park.
“He’s high quality, and I’ve been really impressed with what hes; done this year. And I feel there is more to come from him in his game too.
“With Josh Reynolds back, I’m excited for their combinations but we need to make sure we apply ourselves as a group to make sure we give the opportunities.”
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