Wilkin: We can’t be soft against Wigan

St Helens captain Jon Wilkin says Saints need to be physical but smart when they encounter Wigan this Friday.

St Helens travel to the DW Stadium for the derby clash.

Wilkin said Saints can’t face Wigan with a “soft mentality”.

“I think physically you’ve got to be on it, you can’t turn up with a soft mentality against Wigan in there fixtures but not only that weve got to have some quality.

“The emotional side of the game is huge that you can’t deny walking out and the feeling of emotion and aggression all of that that this fixture brings.

“You’ve got to be smart with it and we’ve got to have some quality with our style of play as well.

“Standing in single file trying to run straight through the middle of Wigan is not going to work for us, we need to play them, we need to be smart about what we do.

“But defensively you’re getting the physical mindset right is a non-negotiable thing for a derby.”

St Helens head into the game in a good run of form after beating Huddersfield away last weekend.

Wilkin believes his side can improve.

“I think we can tidy things up, we were by far from the finished article,” he admitted.

“For me whenever we work together in our defence we’re good, whenever we try to resolve things on our own we’re bad.

“Wigan is one of those games emotionally where you feel like your chomping at the bit.

“You might well go and do things yourself but it’s one of those games where we all work together, stick together, be united and by the end of it we’ll get the result and we’ve got to approach this game with that mentality really.

“Togetherness and working with each other. It’s a loud atmosphere at the derby, it always is, so talking and communicating is a challenge and the team that does that best and brings the right physical attitude will win the game.”