Daryl Powell backs Castleford Tigers boss Danny McGuire as he makes Wakefield Trinity top-four prediction

The Wakefield Trinity boss, who introduced a fresh-faced McGuire to Super League in 2001, knows exactly what his former protégé is going through as a young head coach finding his way.

Powell rode the highs and lows during his time in charge of Leeds Rhinos and emerged stronger for the experience, as the Tigers can testify.

McGuire's first seven matches as Castleford boss have served as something of a reality check, with a solitary victory leaving the Rhinos legend under pressure heading into Thursday's derby at Belle Vue.

Powell has sympathy for his opposite number – even if it is his job to prolong that early misery.

"It's tough as a young head coach," said the 59-year-old, who is preparing for his first Calder derby on the other side of the rivalry.

"I've been there myself when you're getting a lot of things thrown at you and are learning on the hoof how to deal with them.

"Danny was an iconic player at Leeds so he's got a lot of experience in how the game should be played. Managing all those things takes a bit of experience – and he's getting a lot of that now.

"He'll be working hard to work things out. We've got them twice over the next three weeks so I hope he doesn't work it out too quickly!

"We've got a couple of young British head coaches who are finding things tough at the moment. We should be supporting those coaches to get better. The RFL should be supporting them because we need coaching in this country to be as good as it can be."

McGuire could do worse than use Powell as a source of inspiration.

The Tigers were languishing in the lower reaches of Super League when Powell took over in 2013 before going on to enjoy their best period of the Super League era.

"When I took over there, they were pretty much bottom of the table," recalled Powell.

"It was a rebuild job and also fixing up what we had at the time. I thought we did that pretty quickly – we finished fourth in 2014 and were in a Challenge Cup final.

"There are some similarities and quite a few differences as well."

Now back in West Yorkshire after an ill-fated spell with Warrington Wolves, Powell is laying fresh foundations at Castleford's local rivals.

Wakefield stormed to the Championship treble last season – and that was only the beginning, according to Powell.

"The way the club is growing, it's breeding for consistency," he added.

"That's probably the difference. We're doing a lot of things around the ground to grow what is a really good environment anyway. The ownership is doing an unbelievable job.

"I can see this being one of the top-four clubs in the future. I just don't see anything other than that. It's the start of something special for Wakefield, absolutely."

Trinity have made an encouraging start to life back in Super League, winning three of their seven games despite being hampered by a lengthy casualty list.

Influential full-back Max Jowitt makes a timely return this week but Wakefield remain with injured half-back Jake Trueman.

"Max will play this week," said Powell.

"He might play at half, he might play at full-back, he might do a bit of both.

"Jake has had a scan and looks like he's got a bit of a bulging disk, which we don't think is a major issue. He's had an injection in his back to settle it down.

"He's getting about at the minute but it's still pretty sore and stiff so he can't get onto the field this week. We're pretty hopeful and confident it's not too long term."