Friday 8 April 2016 23:41, UK
Head coach Keiron Cunningham said St Helens are close to becoming a "force" again following their 25-22 win at Super League leaders Warrington Wolves.
Saints withstood a late fightback to inflict a first home defeat of the season on the Wolves and consolidate sixth place in the table.
Cunningham believes the win was the culmination of steady improvement in recent weeks, and with a swathe of injured players waiting to return, he is confident their form will keep getting better.
He told Sky Sports: "All credit to the players. Everyone was telling them all week that they can't win these games, but we have been very good for three weeks now and we are building into something.
"We have got a few people injured - we have got about eight or nine starting players [out] - so once we trickle them back in and we keep playing with momentum, we will be a force.
"Everyone on the field was outstanding. There was a lot of pride in our shirt today. We had a lot of points to prove and I thought we did that really well."
Saints' injury crisis has forced Cunningham to field young players such as Jack Ashworth, Jake Spedding, Ricky Bailey and Morgan Knowles.
And his faith in youth was repaid at the Halliwell Jones Stadium when both Ashworth and Knowles scored tries.
Cunningham added: "It's fantastic. We said before the game about pulling in some juniors and playing some kids - there is no bigger occasion.
"We have a standard we set at this club and it runs throughout the junior system, and bringing those kids into the team just shows what we've got underneath us.
"They all deserve what they get and they all deserve the accolades. All credit to all those juniors. I thought they played their hearts out for the full 80 minutes."
Warrington head coach Tony Smith said his players had not been at their best but paid tribute to Saints' performance.
He said: "We didn't get on the front foot enough there tonight and I thought Saints tactically played very well.
"They came up with some plays that they executed well, and they played as well as I've seen Saints play for a while.
"It's that get-up-against-Warrington sort of thing, and my boys didn't have that spark tonight that we needed. A few mistakes cost us tonight."
