Castleford Tigers v Warrington Wolves - No Cup distraction for players, insists Daryl Powell

Ordinarily, that would be strange but, of course, this season is like no other.

With fixtures mounting up, Castleford first have to take on Warrington Wolves in Super League tonight before they can switch attention. Asked about the taxing nature of that congestion, Powell said: “You just focus on the first game and not even consider the second.

“Obviously, as a coaching staff, we are thinking about it [Sunday] but, from a players’ perspective, just get this first job looked after.

“It is a really important game for us – if you look at the top-four and where we are, this game is key.

“Don’t worry about anything else, just get after this game and make sure we start building some consistency.

“We haven’t quite done that yet, either in games or from game to game. We’ll get on with this game and not think about anything that’s ahead of us, because you can’t play two games at once.”

Castleford picked up their first win since the sport resumed by defeating Salford Red Devils 37-30 last week but Warrington – still without seven players due to Covid track and trace – are on an impressive six-game winning run.

“We have played against them in the past and won games with 11 players missing,” Powell recalled.

“We know they will come full of enthusiasm and they have high-quality players in there, but I just think it’s really just a matter of concentrating on ourselves.”

Castleford could name the same 17 that defeated Salford although winger James Clare (neck) is fit again and Jacques O’Neill, Tyla Hepi and Lewis Peachey could also come into contention if needed.

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James Mitchinson