WIGAN second rower John Bateman reckons a win over Hull tomorrow will quickly silence the doom-mongers.

The Warriors are reeling from their first back-to-back defeats in the Super League this season as well as an ignominious exit from the Challenge Cup and the enforced departure of Joel Tomkins.

But Shaun Wane’s men are still second in the table and Bateman believes victory over fifth-placed Hull at The Circle will get their Grand Final bid back on track.

“I think it’s the pressure on Wigan,” he said. “As soon as Wigan start losing games, everyone wants to jump on your back. It’s part and parcel of the game.

“These last few weeks have been tough. We’ve probably gone from one of the best weeks of the season against Warrington at the Magic Weekend to some of the worst.

“We got knocked out of the Challenge Cup, which was massive for us, and going to Hull KR and losing there was a disappointment and we lost at Wakefield last week.

“But we’ve had a couple of days off and that was good for the lads to refresh themselves, just to have a bit of time away from rugby.

“We all came back excited for the game at the weekend, so we’ll be ready to go. We know what we’re capable of and we’re still sat in second, two points clear of Warrington.

“A win this week and it will be all forgotten. We just need to get that win.”

Hull, who lost to Wigan in a round two fixture taken on the road to Australia in February, need a win to stay in touch with the top four.

Utility back Jake Connor, whose outstanding form this year has earned him a place alongside Bateman in England’s 19-man squad for next week’s Test against New Zealand in Denver, appreciates the significance of tomorrow’s game.

“It’s massive for us, for where we are in the table and getting into that four which is where we want to be,” he said.

“We need to win to put us right in the mix. If we drop points now, there’s Wakefield behind us putting pressure on. If we lose, it does put a lot of pressure on the team.

“Every time we play Wigan, they always decide to turn up. In Australia they put one on us and we like to think we owe them one, but we know how dangerous they are.”

Hull welcome back stand-off Albert Kelly and hooker Danny Houghton while Wigan are boosted by the return of forwards Ben Flower and Taulima Tautai.

Meanwhile, Hull coach Lee Radford has confirmed that prop forward Josh Bowden will miss the England Knights’ end-of-season tour to Papua New Guinea after undergoing surgery on his damaged knee.

“Josh’s surgery went well, but we certainly won’t see him again this season on the field,” Radford said. “He’s going to get away for a while to freshen up.”