Substitute Karl Noon made an immediate impact for his side, driving home a 74th minute winner that was too hot for Widnes 'keeper Richie Mottram to handle.

Appointed on an interim basis alongside First Team Coach Nick Matthews following the departure of Joey Dunn last week, Akrigg admitted that he was gutted for his players who produced a good performance despite a tumultuous period over the weekend.

"We're obviously disappointed with the outcome but I think that they'll even admit that our lads deserved at least something out of the game," Akrigg said.

"They've scored from their only shot on target so I can't fault the lads' work-rate tonight. I thought it was top-drawer considering that we've only had a few days to prepare.

"Players are playing out of position but I thought that they were top-drawer tonight and I think that we have a good basis to build on going forward.

"The message beforehand was be hard to beat and look to hit them on the break with Chris Lomax and Alex Davies as the wide lads and I thought that we did that.

"As I said, they've scored with their first shot on target; I don't think they had another one. You could say the same about us but I think it's important that we're stronger at the back going forward because that's something we've lacked as of late.

"Their 'keeper pulled off a great save at the end and I'm really gutted that they've not managed to get anything out of it.

"The lads have been top-drawer since Joey and Stu (Humphreys) left. They've been great with me and hopefully we can push on going forward."

Widnes are back in action on Saturday with a trip to Northwich Victoria. Akrigg is preparing for the game as normal until told otherwise, targeting positive results going forward.

He said: "Nothing changes going forward. As far as I'm concerned, we're in charge until further notice.

"We'll train on Thursday and prepare as normal. We'll have a look at them and look to get all three points.

"Today is an improvement despite the defeat. It provides us something to build on going forward.

"We'll be looking at adding one or two players in the meantime, and hopefully we can pick up all three points on Saturday."