INTERVIEW | Brett Ferres after close battle in Widnes

Dons forward Brett Ferres felt his side deserved more from their defeat against Widnes Vikings on Sunday afternoon.

Tries from Sam Smeaton and Craig Hall contributed to a 16-14 scoreline but it wasn’t enough to see the Dons to a fourth win of the season.

After falling agonisingly short on the road, the forward was left disappointed to be on the wrong side of the scoreline.

“The key word is frustrating,” Ferres said. “I thought we had some really good spells within the game and obviously two or three minutes before half-time, those two tries just put a bit of a dampener on it going into half-time.

“We regrouped pretty quick and we probably should have got more out of that game than we did.

“It’s just some silly errors and probably some stages within the game we just missed opportunities and obviously let in a decent side there in Widnes.”

Despite the loss, the Dons provided a much improved performance against the Vikings and Ferres felt it was there for all to see.

“There's certainly been a lot of progression within the group. I think you can see over the last couple of weeks, we've improved in certain areas and got a couple of good results.

“For us, it was certainly a bit of chalk and cheese from eight weeks ago in the Challenge Cup game, where we became really short in a lot of areas. 

“It’s certainly a step in the right direction, not the result we wanted, but I still think there are some really good things to take out of the game.

“We're proving that we can challenge the top teams. We don't want to be that team who's just going close all the time though

“I think that's probably the key for us now. We're obviously showing we can get there and there's some bits we need to tidy up on but we don't want to be that nearly team all the time.”

With the Dons’ next challenge coming on home soil against Batley Bulldogs on Sunday, May 19, Ferres says his side will continue to work to find their next victory.

“We'll review it again on Wednesday, we'll come into training with a smile on our face and we'll work hard because that's what happens.

“We work hard, it's not the be all and end all. It's just one result for us. Like I say, we've got a week off to recharge batteries, so we'll work hard in training and we'll prepare for Batley.

“It'll be another tough test for us, another good Championship team but we're looking for a win.”