Wakefield Trinity coach Mark Applegarth felt he got the response he asked for from his players despite crashing to their 10th defeat of the season.

Last week, Applegarth was very critical of his players as they went down 32-0 on home soil against Leigh Leopards. Despite losing 22-6 to new Super League leaders Wigan Warriors at the DW Stadium, the head coach said he could not fault their effort this week.

He said: “I thought we coughed up too many yards in that first half, it felt like we were constantly defending our try line. Against a team of Wigan’s quality, you can’t afford to be doing that and I thought that was the difference in the first half.

“I just said in there I can’t fault the lads in terms of the desire to work hard for each other but those individual errors are currently hurting us pretty bad, because when you play a team that will be competing for honours at the end of the season and you gift them some easy field position, they are going to pull the trigger and hurt you.

Wigan Warriors' Kai Pearce-Paul is stopped by a number of Wakefield players (Picture: Ed Sykes/SWpix.com)

“They are fighting hard for one another and a few lads playing to capacity and giving it everything they’ve got. You’ve just got to stick at it and have that belief you can turn it around.

“We made a couple of changes that we felt we needed after that game. As long as I’m sat here addressing you guys, I’m not questioning whether someone gave it all they’ve got. It should be there, it’s your job, it’s your profession and they are working as hard as they can.

“I can’t ask for any more. I definitely feel that the 17 out there today answered those questions.

The Warriors led 18-0 at the break thanks to tries from Liam Marshall, Abbas Miski and Ethan Havard, but a stale second-half performance saw them only post a further four points.

Wakefield Trinity head coach Mark Applegarth (Picture: SWpix.com).

Trinity got back in the game through Jay Pitts, but a superb try from Bevan French with 12 minutes left on the clock secured victory for Wigan.

Wigan: French, Miski, King, Wardle, Marshall, Shorrocks, Smith, Byrne, Powell, Havard, Isa, Pearce-Paul, Smithies. Substitutes: Mago, O'Neill, Hill, Nsemba.

Wakefield: Kay, Kershaw, Lyne, Langi, Taufua, Milnes, Lino, Whitbread, Bowes, Proctor, Hewitt, Ashurst, Pitts. Substitutes: Eseh, Atoni, Bowden, Battye.

Referee: Aaron Moore (RFL)

Wakefield Trinity suffer 10th defeat but this one felt more positive for Mark Applegarth