Shaun McRae remained upbeat despite Salford suffering a 38-12 thumping at St Helens on Friday night.
Coach looking on bright side after loss to Saints
Salford coach Shaun McRae believes Malcolm Alker justified his reappointment as skipper, despite a 38-12 thumping at St Helens.
The long-serving hooker was restored to the captaincy after the board gave the Australian coach a vote of confidence in midweek.
The Reds had gone down to three successive defeats in the lead up to the GPW Recruitment Stadium encounter and their deficiencies were again exposed as Saints ran in tries from Jon Wilkin (two), Leon Pryce and Chris Flannery, Ade Gardner, James Graham and Keiron Cunningham.
But consolation scores from full-back Karl Fitzpatrick and debutant Andrew Thornley ensured the Reds finished the game on a high and McRae remains upbeat.
"The mood is really buoyant in the changing room. It's a bit eerie really and it doesn't feel like a loss at all," McRae said.
Character
"There was enough character shown to suggest we are on the up. There was a lot of improvement and it was summed up for me in the second-half when Malcolm Alker tracked back and stopped James Roby.
"It showed the character in the side and I think our supporters - who I thought were terrific - saw a lot of effort and determination from the players.
"Giving Malcolm the captaincy back is a decision that has gone down extremely well with the team and the organisation.
"That request that I put to the board to make him captain was basically because of what we were seeing from him anyway."
St Helens coach Mick Potter refused to get carried away with his side's victory and admits there is still room for improvement ahead of next week's crunch clash with champions Leeds.
"The two points helps us to stay in touch with Leeds," Potter said. "I thought Jon Wilkin was outstanding tonight and probably did more than he was asked to do.
"But we have still have work to do and probably need to improve our execution."
