‘Very disappointing’ – Castleford Tigers’ reaction to Huddersfield decision

Castleford Tigers coach Craig Lingard says his worst fears were realised when in-form forward Matty English was recalled from his loan at Castleford Tigers.

Calling English back was high on interim boss Luke Robinson’s agenda when he took over the Giants’ hot seat from Ian Watson last week.

And with Huddersfield losing Andre Savelio and Sam Hewitt to bans, alongside the injured Joe Greenwood, in last Saturday’s defeat at Leigh Leopards, Lingard wasn’t shocked when the phone rang at the start of this week.

Speaking at his weekly preview press conference today (Friday), Lingard admitted losing English is “very disappointing”, but conceded: “He’s not our player and Huddersfield were in control of his destiny.

“The coach who has taken over wants him back and they lost a few players last week as well. I watched their game and knew what was going to come 24 hours later.”

How Castleford Tigers have replaced Matty English

Sylvester Namo will replace English in the Tigers’ side to face Catalans Dragons on Sunday, but Lingard admitted the Giants man is a big loss.

“I’ve made no secret of the fact we wanted to keep him towards the end of the season,” he added.

“Of the four games he has been here, we lost one by two points, one by a point and won the two others.

“I don’t think it’s any coincidence performances got a little bit better while he was here. He gave us that bit of extra quality.”

Ahead of their game against Catalans Dragons on Sunday, Craig Lingard has named his Castleford Tigers’ 21-man squad with Namo for English being the only change. The full squad can be seen below.

Castleford Tigers 21-man squad to face Catalans Dragons

1: Luke Hooley
5: Innes Senior
7: Jacob Miller
8: Liam Watts
10: George Lawler
11: Elie El-Zakhem
12: Alex Mellor
13: Joe Westerman
14: Liam Horne
15: George Griffin
16: Rowan Milnes
19: Sam Hall
20: Muizz Mustapha
21: Sylvester Namo
23: Jason Qareqare
24: Cain Robb
26: Samy Kibula
29: George Hill
30: Luis Johnson
34: Tex Hoy
35: Corey Hall