Hull FC v Leeds Rhinos: James Donaldson undaunted by tough trip to Hull FC

James Donaldson, is tackled by Salford's Josh Jones and Joey Lussick.

THE HOSTILE reception Leeds Rhinos always receive at Hull will not come as a shock to back-rower James Donaldson tomorrow.

He will be making his first playing return to East Yorkshire since leaving Hull Kingston Rovers last autumn and knows what an intimidating atmosphere a big crowd at KCOM Stadium can generate.

Hull have not won a home game since last June, but are beginning to improve and Donaldson reckons Rhinos will be facing a confident team this evening.

Defeats in their opening two games of the year took their losing run to 13 matches, but 37-year-old former Rhinos forward Gareth Ellis’ decision to come out of retirement sparked a revival.

A golden-point extra-time win at Wigan Warriors ended Hull’s long wait for a win and they also beat Huddersfield Giants last Sunday.

They have climbed to fifth in the table and Donaldson warned: “They have definitely got a lot going for them at the moment.”

But he insisted: “We are looking forward to going there as well.

“We need to put a few wrongs right and definitely put our foot back into Super League.

Gareth Ellis in action for Hull FC at Huddersfield.

“We’ve been doing everything we can this week to make sure we prepare ourselves in the best way possible.”

It is no secret what Leeds have been focusing on since last Friday’s home loss to Wakefield Trinity.

“Defence wins you games,” Donaldson stressed. “I know you need to score some points, but you have to earn the right through your defence to get the ball in hand.

“If we get that right the rest will take care of itself because we’ve shown we can score points when we do get our hands on the ball and get down the other end.”

A points difference of minus 28 tells its own story.

The win at Salford three weeks ago was the only time Rhinos have conceded fewer than 20 points this year, but Donaldson is “100 per cent” sure they can fix up what has been going wrong.

They have tackled well in patches of games and he said: “We just need to do it consistently, set for set, rather than one set on and one set off.”

He added: “We are trying to stay positive.

“We definitely just need to stick together and work on this together and the results will come.

“It is a tough league and every game is a big one this year.

“There’s no easy games, as some of the results have shown.

“You need to put your best foot forward every single week.

“You can’t call any results, you’ve just got to make sure you are ready to go every single week to put your best performance in for the team.”

Donaldson has missed only one of Rhinos’ five competitive games this year, sitting out the defeat at St Helens two weeks ago owing to a concussion.

The 27-year-old was told he wasn’t wanted by Hull KR at the end of last season and – after training on his own – joined Rhinos on trial in December before signing a contract until the end of this season.