Doncaster Knights: ‘We need to be smarter’ – Michael Hills

Doncaster Knights’ captain Michael Hills says the club need to get back on track in the Championship following back-to-back defeats.
Michael HillsMichael Hills
Michael Hills

And the influential back-rower, who has missed recent games with a groin strain, is hoping to be fit to lead them in their testing trip to Jersey next Friday.

Hills was a disappointed spectator as Knights suffered a third defeat in four games against Nottingham at Castle Park on Saturday.

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“Nottingham are a good young outfit and full credit to them because they worked very hard,” said Hills.

“But on the flip side our boys worked very hard to get back into the game and could have won it at the end.

“The players were gutted in the dressing room as you would expect because what was a winnable game had been ripped from their grasp.

“Having said that we didn’t perform to the standard that we had done in our recent games.

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“As I’ve said before you can never question the effort the boys put in. What we need to be at times is a bit smarter.

“We’ve got to look at the things we need to improve on and reflect on the things we did well and go over to Jersey and try and come back with a win.

“Playing under lights on a Friday night is not much different to playing on a Saturday. What influences games over there is the weather – particularly the wind.

“They are a big physical unit up front and they’ve also got the ability to play it in the backs so we know what to expect.

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“But, because we’ve done it in the past, we know we are good enough to go over there and pick up a win,

“We’ve got quality in the squad and we’ve got a lot of experience as well.

“We’ve had a lot of players out with injuries and we’ve really struggled in the second-row at times.

“But once everybody is back available there will be a lot of competition in the forwards and that is exactly what we need now to push players in the team to perform better and to get us over the line in tight games.”