Warrington Wolves coach Tony Smith has remained upbeat after seeing his side let a first-half lead slip to lose to St Helens.
The Wolves opened up a 16-8 advantage at the break at St James' Park on Sunday before the Saints fought back to claim the spoils in the Super League encounter.
While he admits that his team's second-half performance was below par, Smith believes that their display during the opening 40 minutes was commendable.
"I thought we were soft defensively compared to the first half," he is quoted as saying by BBC Sport. "We were pretty dominant in that first half. Maybe we thought it was going to be easy in the second.
"If we find the that performance level we put in for the first 40 minutes I think most teams in the competition know we can compete with them."
Warrington continue their Super League campaign on June 5 when Catalans Dragons make the trip to the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
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