Keiron Cunningham hails St Helens defence

St Helens coach Keiron Cunningham has praised his side for their 'defensive resilience' after seeing them beat Salford Red Devils in the Super League.

The Saints returned to the top of the table on Friday night as they earned a 32-12 triumph at Langtree Park.

Despite accusing his players of playing 'dumb rugby' at times during the game, Cunningham believes that their dogged spirit played a big part in the result.

"I expected what they threw at us and that is the strongest Salford team I've seen in two or three months," he is quoted as saying by BBC Sport. "Rangi Chase was very influential and troubled us all night.

"With the amount of possession Salford had, even though my team was a bit dumb at times, you have to tilt your cap at how resilient we were defensively."

St Helens are back in action on June 12 when they will host Wigan Warriors.