Another two out for Cas, but Powell welcomes back quartet as he hails “special bond” at the club

Castleford Tigers have been doing it tough recently on the injury front and another two will sit out against Salford in the Challenge Cup quarter-final.

“Cheyse Blair and Greg Eden picked up injuries so they’re out, but there’s a few guys available this week,” Powell said.

“There will obviously be some changes with George Griffin, Dan Smith, Gaz O’Brien and Jordan Turner hopefully all available so there’ll definitely be a different look and a freshness.

“Cheyse Blair will be out for about four weeks, and Greg Eden we’re not certain about yet, but they are both injuries that they won’t be back from quickly so it’s a bit frustrating.

“James Clare is pretty close to being available again and there’s a couple of young boys that did well last week who swelled our confidence in the depth of our squad.

“Whilst you never want to lose players, we’ve got players that can slot back in.”

Though playing the same team twice in two weeks may be a problem, Powell was keen to stress that preparation is actually easier.

“In terms of previewing, it’s a bit less work, so it’s a little bit easier from that perspective.

“I’ve played against teams a couple of times like this where you follow a different gameplan from one week to the next or you might just tweak it slightly.

“For us, we need to execute a little bit better in good attacking positions. There are some things we are doing really well and some things we need to improve on.”

To win the Challenge Cup in his final year at Castleford would be “amazing” for the Tigers boss.

“Any year it would be awesome; we’ve been in a couple of finals, but we haven’t managed to win one.

“Obviously, it’s my last year at the club and it would be pretty special to win something with a special group of boys and playing staff.

“For the fans it would be amazing, but you’ve got to do the work, it’s tough to get there and it’s tough to win.

“Salford will be highly motivated to get into a semi-final themselves and winning the game last week doesn’t matter at all, we need to come up with a performance that will get us into the semis.”

Powell also hailed a “special bond” between the team and playing staff.

“I just think every year a team changes, you’re very rarely left with the same players a year after, but you end up having a special bond with the men that put everything on the line.

“It’s a big battle very single week and it would be amazing; their character, sense of humour, everything about being in a rugby league environment, it’s a special time in your life to be able to do that.

“To win something with this group of men would be unreal.”