Castleford Tigers hit with good and bad news ahead of Huddersfield Giants

Castleford Tigers could gain some much-needed firepower for their Magic Weekend clash against Huddersfield Giants with the return of a long-term casualty.

Former Hull KR three-quarter Will Tate is in contention to make his first appearance of the season at Elland Road on Sunday after a successful comeback from ankle damage in the reserves last weekend.

That would be a major boost for Castleford Tigers and coach Craig Lingard who is also without Sam Wood and Josh Hodson and has been using forwards out of position in the centre role.

“He came through that all right, so as long as there’s no reaction later this week he will be in contention,” Lingard confirmed of Tate, who suffered an ankle fracture and ligament damage late last season.

“He has been out for 12 months and we don’t want to rush him back if he’s not right, but I spoke to him [earlier this week] and he felt absolutely fine.

“He said he expected to feel a lot worse than he did after playing the 80 minutes. The plan was potentially to give him around 50 minutes or an hour to assess him, but he played the full game and he has had no reaction from that as yet.”

Tate’s Magic Weekend return would be a major bonus for Tigers who had second-rowers Luis Johnson and Alex Mellor at centre last week.

“It’s maybe pushed a little bit because we haven’t got any centres,” Lingard added of Tate’s possible return.

“The situation and circumstances might force our hand a little bit. We’ve not played particularly great over the last couple of games as well, so it might give us the option of putting Will into that left-centre and Alex Mellor in the back-row, where he has been playing really well.”

Forward George Lawler is back from paternity leave, but hooker Cain Robb is likely to miss the rest of the season following a shoulder against Hull KR last week.

Lingard confirmed: “I am not expecting him back. It dislocated and went back in; there was no manipulation needed, it was in place when the physio got on, but there’s likely to be some damage to the ligaments around it.”

Another hooker, Paul McShane, is out of action with an arm injury and Lingard added: “It’s not ideal, but it’s one of those things.

“We are getting used to it. I think I have had a minimum of five players out every single week this year, so it’s nothing new.”