DESPITE ending up on the losing side, Sam Burgess was a very proud head coach.

He made 12 changes to his Warrington Wolves side to face Wigan Warriors, with the majority of his first-team stars kept in reserve ahead of next weekend’s Challenge Cup Final between the two.

While Wigan too rested players, their side was much closer to full-strength but they were forced to cling on for a one-point victory over a Wire team containing four senior debutants.

In the end, a drop goal on the stroke of half time from Harry Smith proved decisive as it kept Wire out of reach when Stefan Ratchford touched down to make it 19-18 with two minutes still to go, which was how it stayed.

Nevertheless, Burgess could arguably leave the happier head coach

“It was a good game to watch,” he said.

“It could have gone either way at the end but I’d proud of my team. It was a good day for Warrington.

“We had four players on debut so they’ve not played at this level for. At a full stadium against a near full-strength Wigan side, they did a great job.

“They’ve earnt my trust but they already had it.

“We had Tom Whitehead who’s only played a couple of games, Lucas Green too, Adam Holroyd has played six or seven, Lindop three – it was like having 10 debutants out there!

“I’m proud of them but I knew they were going to perform like that – I’ve seen it all pre-season.

“They will get a lot of confidence out of it and they will all become better players.

“If somebody would have said to me we’d lose 19-18 today, I wouldn’t have been so sure about that.

“I thought it would be a tight game because my players always try hard, but I didn’t think it would be 19-18.

“They had a go – we probably just missed that final bit of class because they’re a great defensive side.”

Full-back Cai Taylor-Wray, winger Jake Thewlis – the younger brother of first-team regular Josh – and second-rower Nolan Tupaea all started the game on debut, with hooker Ben Hartill coming off the bench.

Another youngster in Arron Lindop, who was playing at senior level for just the third time, crossed for the game’s opening try and was also named Sky Sports’ man of the match despite being on the losing side.

“It’s great having them but you’ve got to have the courage to play them,” Burgess said.

“They’ve been at Warrington for the past three or four years, they’ve come through the system and the coaching has been great here.

“People like Gary Chambers, Rich Marshall and Ryan O’Brien down there have put so much time and effort into our junior players. It’s down to me to play them.

“You don’t want to over-expose them, but I’d play any of those players again and they’re not going to let me down.”

While the younger members of the squad may have a watching brief for next week’s Wembley showdown, there were several players in the side playing for their place.

The likes of Joe Bullock, Max Wood and Adam Holroyd got the opportunity to state their case and although Wood picked up a rib injury, Burgess said he appeared to be okay.

Now, he admits he faces plenty of tough decisions in the days ahead.

“I’ve got a tough week this week. There’s some tough decisions to make and that’s probably the hardest part of my job,” he said.

“The coaching side of it is pretty easy but letting a few of them down and making that call is tough. We’ll see what happens through the week.

“Max is okay – he had a bit of a rib cartilage problem. He looks to be alright but we don’t know for sure yet.”

By contrast, Burgess’ counterpart Matt Peet faces a nervous wait on several of his players for the outcome of Monday’s Match Review Panel sitting.

Wigan finished the game with 12 men after Adam Keighran was sent off for a high tackle on Lindop, while footage of an alleged headbutt from Tyler Dupree on Sam Powell has been widely circulated on social media.

Burgess, however, insists he would rather face Wigan at their strongest at Wembley.

“There’s a couple of incidents, isn’t there,” he said.

“People might not agree with this but I don’t like seeing players miss finals. It dilutes the contest.

“We want them to have all their players and have the best team possible, but there’s a process.

“George Williams missed a week this week for not much. There’s a system and a process there so we’ll see what happens this week.

“I don’t want to add fuel to it, but we all saw it.

“I want them to have their full-strength side, for us to have our full-strength side and have a great contest at Wembley. I want to give the fans what they deserve.”