Castleford Tigers are in the midst of a major injury crisis with the club currently without 15 players from their first-team squad.
That’s left head coach Craig Lingard doubtful that he will be able to field a full 21-man squad ahead of the club’s clash with Wigan Warriors in the Challenge Cup on Sunday.
Instead, he’s likely to have to name just 19 and even two of those players could still be awaiting last-minute fitness tests with injury taking hold of the Tigers’ team.
Last week saw the club earn their first win of the Super League season but it came at a huge cost with four players added to the injury list in the aftermath of the game, something that’s left Lingard with a major problem this weekend.
Speaking to BBC Sport West Yorkshire, the Castleford Tigers’ head coach said: “We’ve trained today and we’ve currently got 15 that are currently injured, 13 will definitely be out for the game on Sunday.”
Continuing, he added: “There’s two that are needing fitness checks, so the likelihood is that we’ll probably be naming a 19-man squad at best, I would imagine.
“It’s difficult obviously getting the content on the field out there when you’ve got 15 people that have been unable to train all week and there’s not many of them that are going to be rushing back in either.”
Who is injured for Castleford Tigers?
Credit: Imago Images
Specifically, on which players are injured, Lingard revealed the most recent names to be added to the long list, confirming that four players were casualties of that 36-24 win over Salford Red Devils.
He said:”We’ve obviously got Liam Watts who failed his HIA at the weekend so he’s automatically sat down. Paul McShane did his hamstring again in the warm up so he’s going to be out.
“Hamstrings are difficult aren’t they? And the thing with that one is it’s a different injury, the hamstring strain is in a different place to the last one. So he’s going to be at least two, three, four weeks I would imagine.”
He also confirmed signing Josh Simm will miss the rest of the season having dislocated his shoulder, before revealing how co-captain Joe Westerman is faring.
“Joe Westerman, he obviously came off with about 15 minutes left and he’s been struggling all week as well. So those four on top of the ones we had last week as well, it’s not been an ideal situation but again I can sit here and moan all I want about it but it’s not going to change so I might as well just crack on with the guys that we’ve got.”
Lingard has spoken in recent weeks on the need to sign players and he echoed that again this week but insisted it’s proving difficult due to teams wanting to avoid any potential cup ties.
“Yeah, calls have been made mate and calls and discussions are happening on an hourly basis but with it being a Challenge Cup weekend this weekend it’s really difficult.
“We’re hoping to get some in next week but again situations at clubs change minute by minute and game by game.”
