Further injury woe for Castleford Tigers sees Alex Foster sidelined

Foster is to undergo surgery on a knee injury and Castleford’s assistant coach Ryan Sheridan described his layoff as a “massive blow”.

Sheridan admitted: “You miss somebody like Fozzy, he is one of those players who comes in and does all the graft and the hard work that nobody really sees.

“We have missed him when the chips are down so it’s a blow for us and for him, as a young fella.

“He’s had a couple of injuries leading up to that so it will be frustrating for him. We have to make sure we do the right thing by him and he is all right mentally, which is the biggest thing with injuries.”

However, half-back Jamie Ellis’s return to training has given Castleford a lift ahead of Friday’s visit of Huddersfield Giants.

Ellis suffered a knee injury in pre-season and has yet to play a competitive game in 2019.

“He is back in training now so I’d imagine he will be a couple of weeks off,” confirmed Sheridan.

“He needs to get his fitness up there and make sure he’s ready for a game. He damaged his knee in the warm-up for one of our pre-season games, which was a bit of a blow.

“He is an experienced half and it will be good to have him back in the mix.”

Casualties Oliver Holmes and Junior Moors are also back in training, but Jesse Sene-Lefao has yet to return to the club following compassionate leave, though he is expected to be available to face Hull next week.