PETER Gentle says he's confident his Hull FC squad will be refreshed for the play-offs after taking the opportunity to freshen up his side.
Gentle handed a first appearance of the season to Liam Kent in Friday's win over Wigan, while welcoming back Paul Johnson and Josh Bowden after lengthy absences.
The trio were joined by experienced Richard Horne, who made a timely return after more than three months out with an ankle injury.
With Aaron Heremaia available to face St Helens after a one-game suspension and Ben Crooks also pushing to return, Gentle is hoping to have options again in his squad selection.
The Aussie is hoping the win at Wigan has helped towards his side getting their Wembley disappointment out of their system.
"Liam Kent and Josh Bowden haven't played for two or three months, Paul Johnson hasn't played for around six weeks and then we had Richard Horne coming back," explained Gentle.
"It was good to get some game time into the guys going into the semi-finals because we'll need them at some stage.
"We gave the players the weekend to freshen up as we've got a tough week and the players are aware of that."
Friday's match against Saints at the KC is now a shoot-out for fifth, with victory for Hull setting up a first-round play-off tie against KR.
Defeat would mean a tie with Catalan at the KC, unless the French side beat Warrington in their final game, which would result in a third trip of the year to Perpignan.
Hull are unlikely to risk injured Gareth Ellis, while Andy Lynch is certainly ruled out.
Mark O'Meley, who is retiring at the end of the season, is set to learn today if his career is over after seeing a specialist regarding his ankle injury picked up at Wembley.
