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“No excuses” for Wigan Warriors boss Matt Peet as he concedes Huddersfield Giants now have Challenge Cup Final advantage

There were “no excuses” from Wigan boss Matt Peet as his side lost 32-22 to Huddersfield Giants in a dress rehearsal for their Challenge Cup Final clash in two weeks’ time.

There were “glimpses” from the Warriors as Peet acknowledged which nearly had them staging a huge comeback having trailed 22-6, but Peet ultimately felt his rotated side – on a night when both sides rested key players – weren’t at the levels they need to be.

“Huddersfield played well,” Peet said after the game, “They deserved the win and I thought they were better than us.

“I know we had some times where we posted a few tries but whenever it was set for set, Huddersfield looked the stronger team.”

When asked if the rotation was the reason for the loss, Peet pushed against this line of thinking: “No, all our team are fulltime professionals, they all train together day in, day out. There’s no excuses.

“I wouldn’t single out any individuals, but I thought there were times where there were lapses in concentration, where we were off. Credit to Huddersfield, they’re a clinical team.

“I think everyone needs to learn from tonight.”

The Warriors gave debuts to two youngsters in Logan Astley and Matty Nicholson with the latter scoring twice and Peet was pleased with their performance: “I thought Logan and Matty stood up well, James McDonnell had some glimpses. They’ll be much better for the experience but didn’t look out of place.”

Nonetheless, he believes the squad need to react to this defeat after taking “a step back” for the first time in his reign: “We need to have a good talk about tonight, we need to learn a lot as a group after tonight. We’ll have a catch up with the lads tomorrow.

“Tonight was the first time I felt we’ve taken a step back. It’s how you react to that, it’s how you respond and I’m sure we will. We can’t brush over it. It needs to sting this one.”

He also believes that this gives Huddersfield a psychological advantage going into the final: “I think they will [have an advantage], they probably should. We didn’t start a weakened pack and they rolled us down the field.”

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