Castleford Tigers set sights on Easter double

The England centre hopes to be fit to resume at Wakefield Trinity after missing Friday’s 25-24 win over champions Leeds Rhinos due to a back issue.

Castleford head straight into another West Yorkshire derby before hosting Warrington Wolves on Easter Monday.

It is always a difficult part of the season but Shenton, 31, said: “You have got to attack Easter.

“You can’t look at it and feel sorry for yourself going into it as it is a tough period, no doubt.

“But you can either be left behind if you don’t do well over Easter or you can be right there at the end of it. If you get two wins out of two, you are normally in a pretty good place.

“That’s definitely our target, but we are not looking past the Wakefield game. Going there is a tough challenge and we had a really tough game there last year.

“We managed to sneak our way back in it, but we are definitely ready for the challenge and know it is going to be a big one.”

Tigers seek a fifth straight win since an opening night loss at St Helens and the expected return of Shenton and second-row Oli Holmes will bolster their hopes.

“I am looking pretty well now,” he admitted.

“I was probably hit and miss for the Leeds game. We decided on the Wednesday it wasn’t the right thing to do.

“I had one session going into that game so we stuck with the team that had been training all week, which was probably the right decision.

“I was gutted to miss that one. It was a pretty special atmosphere at Elland Road and a good game.

“But I’ve got a fair few sessions under my belt going into this Wakey game so I’m pretty confident I am in a decent place.”

Meanwhile, Tigers prop Matt Cook has signed a new one-year extension that sees him remain at the club until the end of 2019.

The former Bradford Bulls and Hull KR, 31, forward joined from London Broncos in 2014.

Powell said: “His energy coming off the bench for us has been fantastic and I’m confident he’ll continue to get better.”