WARRINGTON Wolves go to Harlequins on a high after victory against Hull but Mike Wainwright knows the mood of the supporters could have been so different.

Wolves' 22-12 lead was wiped out by Hull on Sunday and would have cost Paul Cullen's men dearly if the Airlie Birds had managed to complete their fightback.

As it was, Wolves' second win of the season leaves them sixth in the table, only two points behind leaders Bradford Bulls.

But such are the close margins at the start of engage Super League XII that Wolves would have been languishing third from bottom if they had not defeated a Hull side that was hungry for their first win of the campaign.

Wainwright said: "If we'd been going to London on the back of two successive defeats all of a sudden people would have started talking about a little bit of a crisis.

"But to go to Harlequins on the back of two wins from three is good and hopefully we'll continue to gain the results."

Experienced Wainwright wants to see improvements in one particular area to prevent future opponents from going one step better than Hull in a fightback situation.

He said: "Something we've spoken about is that we're not reacting well from a negative - whether that's conceding the ball or a penalty.

"We seem to be conceding tries from those mistakes and so some more work still needs doing on that."

But, thankfully, defeating Hull gave a major lift to supporters after the disappointment of losing the first home game of the season against Bradford seven days earlier.

Wainwright, delighted to celebrate his 32nd birthday with Sunday's success, is now pleased to be facing Harlequins despite their unbeaten start to the year.

He said: "With Quins, you always know what you're going to get.

"It's like a hard grind of a game that they play.

"There are a lot of Aussies in the side and they play to a style of kicking, completing and hoping their opponents fall over in front of them.

"But I think that is a good game for us as well.

"If we complete the sets and hold on to the ball we can beat anyone."

Wainwright is in his ninth season of Super League with Wolves and is positioned well to be able to compare the camp to previous years.

He said: "This is the strongest squad and it is having to come to the fore because we've already had some massive injuries.

"I think there is a lot of expectation around the club, the crowds have been big and there's a real buzz about the place.

"We keep saying we need to get to a major final and win a trophy, and the lads are confident we can try and do that this year."