Castleford Tigers v Salford Red Devils: Andy Last calls on big names to continue to lead way

After winning just two of their opening 13 matches, Castleford produced their best performance under Last to defeat local rivals Leeds Rhinos in a Magic Weekend thriller.

Tomorrow's home date with Salford Red Devils provides a chance to win consecutive games for the first time this year and prove last week's result was no flash in the pan.

"It would be nice to get back-to-back wins," said Last.

"It was a good performance last week because we got the result.

"I don't think it was any coincidence that our best players all performed closest to their best on the same day.

"It was Gaz Widdop's best performance in a Castleford shirt and I'd argue that it was Jacob Miller's best performance as well. Paul McShane was very, very good, Joe Westerman was very good and Liam Watts played exceptionally well.

"They're five of your higher earners and that's the standard of performance you expect from them on a weekly basis. They need to do that more consistently in the second half of the season. If they do that, we'll get more wins than losses."

The Tigers lost a close contest at the AJ Bell Stadium in April but know just how dangerous Salford can be on their day after going down 50-10 to Paul Rowley's team in their final home game of last season with a play-off place on the line.

Last is desperate to avoid a repeat of that afternoon when the Red Devils came flying out of the blocks and left Castleford chasing shadows.

"If they get momentum and some passes start to stick with the shapes they throw at you, they're a team that can post points quickly," he added.

"Last August, we didn't get off to a good start and they were 20-0 up inside 12 minutes. The scoreboard pressure got to us very, very quickly.

"We need to make sure we start well, get after them defensively and improve on last week's performance. If we do that, we'll give ourselves the chance of getting two points."

Alex Mellor misses the visit of Salford due to a concussion and Watts is banned, while Elliot Wallis sustained a torn pectoral at St James' Park.

The injury ends the young winger's four-game stint in the side, which featured a crucial try against Leeds.

"He's torn some fibres in his pec," said Last.

"We've had him scanned and he's due to see the specialist early next week. Hopefully he's not going to require surgery but it's significant enough for him not to be able to play this week.

"That's really, really disappointing because Elliot's been a bit of a shining light for us the last two weeks. The try he scored last weekend was very, very well taken.

"It's a little bit of a disappointing blow for Elliot but he's only a young lad and we need to make sure we do the right thing by him."