WITH three of their five remaining games before the split at home, Widnes Vikings are confident they can still make the top eight.

However, coach Denis Betts acknowledges that the new league system is putting players under pressure and they failed to deal with it last time out.

He said: “Both us and Hull KR were pretty busted but I felt we went there with a really good mentality.

“We trained really well all week and we felt it was game where we could go away and get the points which would give ourselves a really strong chance of making the ‘eight’, not just a fighting chance.

“We just suffered from some individual lack of focus.

“There were some really soft tries.

“We’re not physically getting pushed over now, but we’re getting beaten because of some really poor errors.

“The level of pressure on everybody this year is putting the squeeze on. It’s creating anxiety by pushing the pressure points on performance.

“The difference between being an average player and being a good player is how you handle pressure.

“All the lads can play the game; they can catch, they can pass, they know and understand it.

“But when those pressure points start building, you’re ability to execute those skills becomes lessened.

“Lads that have been good at making decisions just made poor ones.”