SALFORD skipper Malcolm Alker is backing his shell-shocked troops to battle back and provide their fans with a big finish to the season.

The City Reds stalwart claims that the Challenge Cup humbling at Huddersfield, and the recent record of one win in five Super League games is simply a "drop in form" and not a slide.

That slump followed a terrific start to the season, which saw Salford breaking into the top three with a run of seven wins from nine games.

"If you look at the games we have lost, with the exception of the cup match at Huddersfield, we have lost five games by eight points or less," said Alker.

"I know that means we are still not winning, but we are losing by one or two points, rather than being thrashed every week. It is a dip in our season, but every team in Super League will have that dip - the team that has it least is the one that will finish top of the table.

"Last weekend was very disappointing, a poor performance, and myself and the rest of the team are not happy about it. We won't be lying down and accepting it.

"I don't think the defeat at Huddersfield was a case of throwing the towel in. It's just the case that the game of rugby league is so fast that once a team gets on a roll, as they did, things quickly fall into place for them.

"But it can only be a dip in form, because we have the same players as the start of the season, the same coach and we are still doing things right in training. It's just that we are not playing well at the minute."

Alker joined the rest of the Salford boys on a morale-lifting trip to the seaside earlier this week, with a training stint on the beach at Southport, followed by a swim and a visit to the Salfordian Hotel, run by chairman John Wilkinson's charity.

Awkward

Salford travel to play Wakefield Trinity Wildcats on Sunday, and that awkward fixture is followed by meetings with the top four, as Leeds (home), St Helens (away), Bradford (home) and Hull (home) provide the opposition.

In current form, it is hard to see Salford clinging on to their sixth spot, and a coveted place in the end-of-season play-offs, even though there is a four-point cushion between them and seventh-placed Huddersfield.

That makes Sunday's trip to Belle Vue a real crunch, and Alker warns it will be no picnic. The Wildcats have one eye on that sixth spot themselves after winning their last four home games.

Salford have beaten the Yorkshire side 36-18 and 26-12 at the Willows, but Wakefield are a different proposition on their own turf.

Alker said: "We need a win under our belts, and once we get it, the last few weeks will quickly be forgotten.

"People have no right to expect us to be third, a year after we finished ninth, and what we have done so far is an improvement on last year.

"We have a really hard block of games coming up in the next month or so, and it will be hard to get some continuity.

"Going to Wakefield and winning is not easy. It is a hard place to perform and last time we played them they were much better than the first time this season, so we can expect them to have improved yet again."

Salford have suffered by having a smaller squad than the teams above them, but Alker says that is a Catch 22 situation they just have to live with.

"We haven't got the fan base that most teams have. As loud and loyal as our supporters are. It would be nice to have three or four thousand more and get to the point where we are salary-capped, but even when we were in third our crowd didn't go up by much.

SALFORD could be in hot water with the Rugby Football League after two bottle-throwing incidents during the Challenge Cup defeat at the Galpharm Stadium on Sunday.

Referee Ashley Klein included the incidents, which took place at the end of the ground housing the Salford fans, and came after Paul March's try had made it 38-14 with eight minutes to go, in his match report.

One of the miniature bottles flew close to Salford coach James Lowes, and the RFL has confirmed that its disciplinary commissioner Norman Sarsfield will be investigating the matter. "We have received reports of an alleged incident and will be investigating those," said an RFL spokesman.

Salford say they are taking the reports very seriously but will not comment as the incidents are being investigated by both clubs, with CCTV footage being studied.

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