Hull FC boss Tony Smith talks derby revenge as he provides Adam Swift injury latest
The Black and Whites warmed up for the second derby of the year with a gutsy 28-18 defeat to Catalans Dragons, a result that leaves Smith's men six points adrift of the top six with 10 rounds remaining.
While the play-offs appear to be out of reach for Hull, putting a dent in KR's top-six hopes with a victory at Craven Park would go a long way to making up for the humiliating 40-0 loss on home soil on Good Friday.
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Hide Ad"We'll look forward to that and try to find some energy and the right combinations to deal with that game," said Smith.
"It'll be an exciting week as that builds. Some will use revenge and want to get payback because that's what makes them tick.
"We're all different about it. I'm of the nature that nothing will change the result against them last time but it would be nice to go and do something similar to them.
"You've got to be good to do that. On their own patch, they're very, very difficult to beat. It'll be down to the best team on the day."
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Hide AdHull pushed Catalans all the way at the MKM Stadium before eventually succumbing to the league leaders.
Tries from Chris Satae, Darnell McIntosh and Adam Swift gave the Black and Whites hope at 22-18 but Tom Davies scored the only try of the second half to clinch a seventh straight win for the Dragons.
"It was a scrappy first half from both teams," said Smith. "We were almost inviting each other back in the game and giving each other a little nudge ahead.
"We were a little bit flat in our energy in the first half and conceded a couple of soft tries. We just haven't been conceding those lately.
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Hide Ad"We discussed it at half-time and found some energy for defence on our tryline. There was more desperation than we had in the first half and it looked more like us defensively but we didn't have much energy left for our attack.
"They're a good team and control things well. They get in front and make it hard for you. They're a difficult team to break down."
Hull failed to get through the game unscathed after Swift was left nursing a back injury that makes him a doubt for the derby
"He's hurting but there's nothing dramatically wrong," said Smith.
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Hide Ad"He was trying to sit down and not get pushed into touch and got some accidental knees in the fleshy part of his back.
"He'll be okay. When that settles down, I can't tell you whether it's this week or next week.
"He's not ruled out of next week just yet but he's in a bit of pain which makes him very doubtful.”
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