Castleford Tigers face anxious wait after Paul McShane suffers suspected broken arm

The 33-year-old, who was granted a testimonial earlier this week, left the field in clear discomfort and could be seen in a sling before travelling to hospital for further assessment.

Castleford head coach Andy Last said: "It looks like it could be a fracture of his forearm.

"We're hoping it's just a really, really deep dead arm but he seems to think it could be fractured so he's currently at Pinderfields getting an X-ray. That could be a difficult one if that news is the worst-case scenario.

"If it's fractured, he's going to miss a fair portion of the season."

Already without a dozen first-team players, the Tigers also lost Mahe Fonua to a head injury in the first half of the Wheldon Road clash.

Last handed academy forward Aaron Willis his debut and saw his depleted side succumb to a heavy loss.

"I'm really disappointed with the result and for the scoreline to go out like it did," said Last.

"It's been a really, really tough week. You have a morale-boosting victory against Leeds at Magic Weekend and then on Monday the injury report comes in and you know you're going to be playing Salford with six of that starting 17 not playing.

"It was always going to be a challenge and then you lose McShane and Mahe Fonua with 60 minutes of the game to go and are down to 15 with one lad making his debut.

"The lads didn't throw the towel in. I know the scoreline blew away from us but Salford are a slick team and throw some really challenging shapes at you. They exposed a patched-up team."