Whitehaven head coach James Coyle admitted that he would have preferred to have played Featherstone later in the Super 8s after his side’s 42-30 loss on Sunday.

Haven’s final game of the regular season was away to the Rovers, where they won 29-0 in convincing fashion.

They were then matched up against Featherstone for the first game of the Super 8s phase of the competition with two weeks in between fixtures.

Coyle’s side found themselves 32-6 behind, which proved too big a margin to overcome as they eventually lost by two scores.

“I’d have preferred there to have been a bit more water under the bridge,” Coyle said.

“The players may have thought that the result was already decided.

“I think we thought we could take a few shortcuts against a weaker Featherstone side than when we played them two weeks ago.

“That win might have got into the player’s minds, going into that game we didn’t discuss a scoreline at all.”

Coyle said he had strong words with the players at half-time and, despite the final result, was pleased with the reaction he saw in the second half.

“It’s the biggest insult to a player when you’re being told you’re not playing as well as you can,” he continued.

“Mentally we weren’t there, we were soft and a bit weak and we didn’t have as much intensity or enthusiasm.

“A lot of the little things in a game are determined by attitude and the way you approach it.

“We needed to show in the second half that it was just a blip. We started a bit scratchy but we were a lot better.

“We’ve come away thinking ‘what if?’. We could have got a result with a better performance.

“The players need to get their attitude right this weekend.”

Haven welcome London Broncos to The Recreation Ground on Saturday night for a 6.30pm kick-off.