Wakefield: '˜Scratchy' Wildcats must improve for battle with Warrington, says Craig Hall

Wildcats saw an early 22-0 lead reduced to just six points, before two late tries by Tom Johnstone steered them into the quarter-finals and a trip to Super League rivals Huddersfield Giants.

Hall described the victory over the League One visitors as “a bit scratchy”.

And he said: “We started really well and then I think we tried to over-play far too much and it (the way Toulouse hit back) is going to happen.

“They came here fighting, wanting to win.

“They were full of enthusiasm, but luckily we are in the next round.

“A home draw would have been nice, but we have to take what we’ve got.”

The victory over Toulouse was Wildcats’ seventh in their last eight games, but one of their poorest performances.

“We have got quite a few injuries in the squad at the minute, so that’s really testing us,” Hall said.

“But the character is there. We have only lost against Hull in the last few weeks and we’ve had a couple of late victories.

“Last week was really good for us, beating Widnes, with us being so close in the league.

“We are focusing on Warrington now and we know we will have to play better against them.

“There were far too many errors (last Sunday).

“Sometimes you can afford a couple of people having an off game, but far too many of us did.

“We will fix that up this week and, hopefully, we will all be firing ready for the Warrington game.”

After a succession of good results and performances, Hall said the below-par effort against Toulouse could work in Wildcats’ favour.

“It was probably the best time to have an off day,” he conceded.

“Hopefully it is out of our system and we can kick on.”

Hall, who scored a long-range interception try in the first half, has played in Wildcats’ last two games after Reece Lyne joined the casualty list.

“When I am in the team I just try to give Chezzy (coach Chris Chester) a headache, to try and keep me in as much as possible,” he said.

“Luckily I can play anywhere, in case injuries pop up.

“I have played left-centre the last couple of games and, hopefully, I’ll get the nod again this week.

“I played there as a kid, so that’s probably the position I have played the most. But as long as I am playing, I’m happy.”