Castleford Tigers v London Broncos: Craig Lingard expects professional performance at start of 'significant' period

The new-look Tigers have become accustomed to playing the role of underdogs but that changes this week with Super League's basement side in town.

London are the only team in the competition without a win after eight rounds following their shock promotion from the Championship.

Castleford may be only two points better off but they are highly fancied to extend the Broncos' losing start, which brings a different kind of pressure.

Lingard does not expect the 'favourites' tag to weigh heavy on his team after spending the week focusing minds.

"We're at home and are expected to win, I guess, on paper this week," said Lingard. "But the senior guys have mentioned that it's about us making sure we control what we can control, focusing on the areas where we were better against Wigan and being better for longer in this game.

"The message is that if we're off in any part of the game against London, they're good enough to get the win as well.

"We can't just walk into this game expecting to win. They'd be similar to us in games this season where they've looked brilliant in parts and then have 10 or 15-minute periods where teams will put two or three scores on them.

"We've had that happen to us so we're not under any illusions that we're significantly better than London. We're two points above them in the league and if they beat us, they go level with us.

"It's a good opportunity for us to see where we are. If we get the win, it puts two victories between us and London and might get us up into ninth position. Then we'd be looking up rather than down."

London's squad features part-time players after they became the first victims of the new grading system, which effectively consigned the capital club to relegation before a ball was kicked in 2024.

The move away from automatic relegation has removed the jeopardy and lessened the importance of fixtures between teams at the bottom.

Lingard, though, wants to see green shoots of progress from his side during a period that could define Castleford's season.

"We know that performances on the field this season make no difference to relegation but that doesn't change the fact that we want to win games, get better week on week and see how far we can take this team," he said.

"It's all about seeing how far we can take the group of players we've got this season and which ones are ready for Super League longer term.

"We’re not looking too far forward to Leigh, St Helens or Hull – we want to make sure we concentrate on what's in front of us on Friday – but we certainly think this four-game block where we play the other three teams at the bottom of the table is going to be pretty significant in where our season could potentially go."

The Tigers have a fresh look for the clash with London after bringing in reinforcements in the shape of Tex Hoy, Corey Hall and Sam Eseh, adding to the recent signing of Louis Senior.

Hoy and Hall are poised to make their debuts but Eseh has suffered a fresh setback following his return from a hamstring injury for Wigan Warriors reserves last week.

"Sam Eseh has unfortunately pulled out in the team run so he's going to be missing this week," said Lingard. "That's a bit of a blow for us because we brought him in to make a bit of an impact.

"He played in their reserves last week and he's just felt it cramp up in the team run.

"We're not going to push him through that. As staff and speaking to Sam as well, the best route is to pull him out and go with 17 fit blokes."

Lingard has a hole to plug following Jack Broadbent's move to Hull KR but the club's injury situation is beginning to ease, with co-captains Joe Westerman and Paul McShane among the returnees this week.

Not content with a rare selection headache, Lingard remains on the lookout for reinforcements to strengthen his struggling squad.

"We've got a few bodies back," he said.

"Westy is back in training and Macca and Alex Mellor have come through training this week so we've got some experience back which we've been lacking.

"It's looking a lot stronger than what it has done in recent weeks. We've had to leave a few players out of the squad this week which is the first time for a while.

"We've got a few bodies back but we are still continuing to look for next season and this season as well. Those conversations are ongoing and don't just stop because we've got a few bodies in this week."