Powell loses two more to injury as he blasts his ‘abject’ and ‘disappointing’ side

Daryl Powell cut an unhappy figure in Castleford’s post-match press conference.

The Tigers had just gone down 22-0 at home to Wigan Warriors – who themselves hadn’t scored for 217 minutes before Jackson Hastings pierced the hosts’ line early in the first-half.

And, Powell said his side “were so far from off”.

“It’s hard to describe, we were so disappointing,” Powell said.

“I think the schedule caught up with us a little bit, it’s tough the short turnarounds but it doesn’t excuse the amount of ball we put down.

“We were so far off from an attacking perspective, but I thought Wigan came at us and defended well.

“Our kicking game was poor right from the start and we give them a try from a pass that hit the floor.

“I don’t know how many errors we made but it was signifiant – the players are going through a real tough period at the moment.

“They were helped by us not executing well, we had a lot of pressure and couldn’t do anything with it, we were pretty abject to be honest.

“They’ve got a tough run in and they needed the win, so they were the better team.”

Powell rued another two injuries to his already beleaguered team and revealed just how much the Tigers missed their talisman Paul McShane.

“We missed Paul McShane with his distribution because it’s tough for Adz (Adam Milner) to do what he did today after playing 70 minutes at nine against Hull – he hurt his back and had to come off.”

The Tigers boss was, however, eager to put this loss to one side and move on quickly.

“We’re three games away from the end of the season, so I don’t think there’s any reason to jump on the players backs after one poor performance.

“Rugby league players aren’t training much at the moment, so there’ll be a team run and game and then a team run and game – Wigan had an extra day in preparation which can make all the difference.

“Greg Eden came off and it looked like a hamstring, but apart from that we are ok

“We’ve tried to roll round players for the two games we have had, but we need to check on Paul McShane and find out a little more tomorrow.”