'Not a performance I want to be associated with': Craig Lingard blasts Castleford Tigers after dismal defeat

The Tigers showed some encouraging signs in the early rounds but capitulated in worrying fashion against Huddersfield at Wheldon Road to make it four straight defeats.

"It hurts massively and I think the main thing is that it's got to hurt the players – some of them maybe it does, some maybe not so much," said a visibly angry Lingard.

"That's not a performance I want to be associated with or the club wants to be associated with. It doesn't represent us as a club or as a playing group.

"We've got to base ourselves this season on being a team that's effort-based, that's going to outwork other teams, and Huddersfield completely blew us off the park with all that effort-based stuff.

"They got a rocket at half-time and came out for the second half and played for 20 minutes like they should have started the game, but to do that for 20 minutes isn't good enough.

"To capitulate like we did at the back end of that game was embarrassing at times. We knew these tough days were going to come but this has hit us hard. I don't think it hurts too many people but I'll have a horrible weekend this weekend."

After seeing Huddersfield turn a dominant display into a landslide win with five tries in the final 20 minutes, Ian Watson expressed delight in the way they rebounded from last week’s gruelling loss at Wigan Warriors.

“I feel like we’ve been pretty good in the games we’ve played,” said the Giants boss. “Against Wigan we got off to a bad start and against Saints we were good but errors cost us.

“We knew at the start of the year we were going to build and try to get better every single week. Today was another step in the right direction.”