Hull Kingston Rovers head coach Chris Chester has conceded that his side deserved their defeat at home to Castleford Tigers in Super League.
Rovers lost their third consecutive match in the competition last night as they were downed 22-30 at the KC Lightstream Stadium.
While admitting that his players improved after the break, Chester believes that a weak first-half performance proved costly in the end.
"We didn't deserve to get anything from that," he is quoted as saying by BBC Sport. "We weren't at the races in the first half. The contact was the worst I've seen and I told the boys they were soft in the first half.
"We improved in the second half, the contact was a lot better but you can't gift teams 24 points. We're massively disappointed. We had targeted this game as one we needed to win so it's going to be fight now for the next seven rounds."
Hull KR are back in action on June 14 when they host Widnes Vikings in Super League.
