Brett Hodgson to have ‘truthful’ conversations with some Hull FC players ahead of Wigan Warriors tie

Brett Hodgson will enjoy the luxury of having some key squad selections to make ahead of Hull FC’s trip to face Wigan Warriors this Thursday.

Hull will be buoyed by the return of Darnell McIntosh, Luke Gale and Kane Evans to Hodgson’s 21-man squad this week.

“I will manage that by being truthful to the players in the conversations that we have this week,” Hodgson told the Hull website.

“I’ll be open with telling them about why I have picked a certain player and why somebody misses out.

“But ultimately, that’s the position that we want to be in, where some are missing out through other individuals’ contributions to the team effort rather than in relation to injury.

“We haven’t been in that position too many times during my time here, but thankfully I have the opportunity to have some of those conversations this week.

The Airlie Birds have now won three consecutive fixtures in all competitions, having seen off Leeds Rhinos, Huddersfield Giants and Sheffield Eagles, all in a different manner.

But Hull’s ability to do it tough, as well as flexing their muscles in recent weeks, has strongly pleased Hodgson.

“[It tells me] that we’re willing to compete hard when things aren’t always going our way,” he said.

“I thought that was particularly evident in the Huddersfield game. Our attacking options weren’t always great in that game, but our defence continued to stand up.

“Then at the weekend, we had a very difficult game against Sheffield because of how you get up for that kind of game mentally, but I thought we were excellent.

“To pile on so many points towards the end of the game showed that we wanted to continue playing and we got the rewards that we deserved.

“Ultimately we’re only six rounds and one cup game into the start of the season. We started last year well, too. It’s pleasing to have had a strong start, but we’ve got to continue that.

“It’s a big challenge for us to go up against Wigan off the back of a short turnaround, but we’re up for it.”