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Castleford Tigers travel to Hull FC in crucial tie in the Betfred Super League

Credit: Adrian Kita

With only five rounds of the regular Betfred Super League season remaining, the clash between Hull FC and Castleford Tigers could prove pivotal with the sides so close to each other in the table.

Both sides emerged victorious last time out, with FC winning the Hull derby 23-22, whilst Cas continued their winning streak against Wakefield, winning 23-18 and are in search of a fourth straight victory when they travel to the MKM Stadium.

FC moved back up to sixth place with Saturday’s win, and despite the Tigers remaining in eighth, they continue to gather momentum for a late play-off surge.

Saturday’s win ended a run of four successive defeats for Hull, and in the build-up to the clash against Castleford, Brett Hodgson has claimed that it has the same amount of importance as the derby against Hull Kingston Rovers.

“There’s been a real bounce around the place this week after Saturday’s win and finally getting a positive result. But we’re coming up against another good side who have won three on the bounce. We have prepared well because they’re nipping at our heels for a play-off spot. It’s like a semi-final come early.”

“This game is just as big as the derby; we need to take the confidence from last week and put it into another big performance.

“They’re getting back to near enough their strongest team. The played well in the first-half against Wakefield last week before taking their foot off the gas a little bit, and against St Helens they were brilliant, as well as beating Leeds before that.

“Our ruck control needs to be good to control guys like Evalds, McShane, Richardson and O’Brien – if we can do that, it’ll go a long way to helping us get a result.”

For his 21-man squad, Hodgson is able to recall Chris Satae and Mahe Fonua who were both unavailable on Saturday. However, during the game, both Josh Reynolds and Joe Cator suffered injuries that could see them miss the remainder of the campaign.

“Unfortunately for both Joe Cator and the squad, it’s the worst case scenario. He has ruptured his Achilles and will be going in for an operation on Tuesday.

“It’s a huge blow for both the team and himself; he was performing exceptionally well. It’ll be a big gap to fill. He’s upset as you can imagine, but we’ll get around him and make sure he is supported.”

“For Josh Reynolds, he is also going to require an operation that is going to leave him out of action for some time – his medial ligament has fully detached in the tackle.

“There wasn’t any intent from the Hull KR player, but it was a nasty tackle in the way he fell onto his knee. His operation will be next week and his recuperation will begin shortly after.”

As for Castleford, Daryl Powell has called upon the same 21-man squad that secured their third straight win against Wakefield Trinity, and a fourth successive win would narrow the gap between themselves and a play-off place.

After recent away wins against Leeds Rhinos and St Helens, Powell admits that his side will face a real battle against FC.

“This will be a tough game, but we are getting used to tough games.

“We’ve been to Leeds and St Helens and Hull are a difficult team.

“They’ve got a lot of their strike players back and we know we’ll have to be at our best to win this one.”

Despite a “terrible” second-half performance in the derby win again against Wakefield, Powell has stressed the importance of building on their first-half showing.