Patrick relieved to be playing again after nine-month lay-off

The utility forward makes his first Super League appearance of the season as the leaders head to Leeds Rhinos tomorrow.

Patrick, 28, had been plagued by a wrist problem which needed two major operations but the former Huddersfield Giants star returned off the bench at last in Sunday’s Challenge Cup quarter-final defeat at Hull FC.

“It’s been a tough battle mentally,” he conceded.

“It was massively disappointing what happened; I lost a bit of faith in my body and it did challenge me finding out in February that the operation had failed and having to have it all re-done again having worked so hard.

“But it’s part and parcel of life I suppose. It’s certainly made me stronger mentally and appreciate other things in life.

“I’m just grateful to be back playing. It was amazing to be back out there. Obviously, it’s such a long lay-off nine months – it’s like an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury – so it turned into a long one.

“But it’s great to be back in the Challenge Cup. It was a dampener losing like that but now I’m looking forward to getting back into Super League on Friday. It’s a massive game, a real statement game for us.”

Castleford see prop Gadwin Springer return after missing four games with a hamstring injury but captain Michael Shenton is out with a slight knee issue so Jy Hitchcox is likely to deputise.

Leeds have Rob Burrow and Jamie Jones-Buchanan back but Carl Ablett drops out injured.

Elsewhere, Hull welcome back stand-off Marc Sneyd for tomorrow’s visit of Wakefield Trinity after missing the last four games with a foot injury.

Wakefield are boosted by the return from injury of Tinirau Arona and James Batchelor while Max Jowitt is also called up but Danny Kirmond and Hull loanee Dean Hadley are out.

Huddersfield have called youngsters Tyler Dickinson, Sam Wood and Darnell McIntosh into their squad to face Wigan while former Bradford Bulls, St Helens and Hull winger Jamie Foster has retired, aged 26, and Hull KR stand-off Jordan Abdull is out for up to 10 weeks with a broken foot

Featherstone Rovers climbed to third in the Kingstone Press Championship with a seven-try 36-2 win over Swinton, Anthony Thackeray and Josh Hardcastle each grabbing two tries.

Dewsbury Rams clinched a 
20-16 win at Oldham, with tries from Dale Morton, Aaron Ollett and Gareth Moore.