Wakefield Trinity boss set to ring changes with 'time running out' to get it right

​After seeing his charges nilled for the sixth time this season in a 20-0 loss at Salford Red Devils, the Wakefield head coach was honest in his assessment of another disappointing night, which followed on the back of the defeat to relegation rivals Castleford Tigers.

With the Tigers also losing their latest game by a bigger margin not too much damage was done, but Trinity now face the resurgent Saints team that blew Cas away last Friday and Applegarth knows there will have to be a marked improvement from his team.

He said: “Some of the lads put in unbelievable defensive efforts. But Salford’s tries were pretty soft and we came up with that many unforced errors – we can’t keep on saying this.

"We are running out of time and we need to sort it out.

"We have some honest conversations to have about it this week.

“Some of those errors I wouldn’t expect from an academy team, let alone a Super League team. There’s going to have to be changes next week.

“There’s no point shying away from how you feel after a tough loss like that."

Applegarth continued: "I hope people are hurting in our dressing room because it shows how much it means to them. We need to dust ourselves off and get ready for St Helens.

“I have said all along that I will never question the lads’ fight and attitude to play for the club and we still showed that.

"The defensive resilience is exactly what we need to base our game on. But as a team we can’t afford individual mistakes."

Some of those changes promised may be forced on Applegarth with fresh injuries to full-back Max Jowitt and centre Reece Lyne.

He explained: “For Max, we will have to see how he settles down. Reece has done his hamstring so we will see how that settles down over the next few days."

But there could be a boost with Kelepi Tanginoa on the way back from injury and expected to be available for the last three matches.

“He’s got his pot off, he’s been for a CT scan and the specialist is pretty happy,” added Applegarth.

"As long as there are no hiccups, he should be back for the last three rounds.

“Everyone is itching to have him back. It’s like having your favourite toy in your toy box and you’re not allowed to play with it.

“He’s had a very unlucky year. He’s had a couple of hamstring injuries, then this broken arm.

“He doesn’t seem to be able to catch a break at the moment, so hopefully we can get him back and he can be a big player for us in these last three.”