Hull KR coach Chris Chester praised his forwards after their 38-16 win over Widnes

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Hull KR kept their top-eight hopes alive with a much-needed 38-16 win over Widnes at the KC Lightstream Stadium.

Hull KR coach Chris Chester praised his forwards for laying the platform for their 38-16 win over Widnes Vikings.

The victory kept the Robins in the hunt for a top-eight spot and closed the gap between them and the Vikings in ninth place to a single point.

Chester was glad to be able to field a stronger pack who got over their counterparts in the middle and provide space and time for half-backs Maurice Blair and Albert Kelly to create the try scoring opportunities.

"The boys were outstanding," Chester said.

"In terms of effort desire and aggression, it was first class.

"We let them back in the game in the second half through silly errors. But the forwards led the platform in the first half.

"It's always nice to get some players back and I thought Adam Walker was very good in the middle. Graeme Horne was fantastic and we really stood up defensively."

Chester lost two-try winger Josh Mantellato at the start of the second half. The Italy international was carried off three minutes into the second half and Chester hopes he will not be out of action for long.

"Josh has gone for x-rays," Chester said.

"It's been the story of our season. We get two players back and then we lose two. But there is no point in whining and we are confident it's nothing to serious."

Attitude

Widnes coach Denis Betts was disappointed with his side's crumble before half-time that led to them conceding three tries in the final 10 minutes of the first half.

"It was about attitude and their's was better," Betts said.

"It was about being in the right space at the right time and we weren't. They have had adversity here and they fought hard like a team desperate to win, we didn't.

"They asked all the questions and our mindset changed. We had lots of ball and opportunities to score but we didn't capitalise on them.

"We just crumbled too easily and I'm disappointed with the way we carried ourselves. We looked like we were waiting for someone to inspire them. As a team, we can't afford to have anyone not turn up to play."