Hull FC v Castleford Tigers: Minichiello looking for swift response from Airlie Birds

The Airlie Birds had won five of their last six games before falling to a surprise 25-24 defeat at bottom-placed Catalans Dragons last Saturday.

Australian second-row Minichiello admitted: “It wasn’t a great performance last week.

“It’s never easy going to Catalans but we should have put in a better performance than we did.

“Defensively we weren’t where we needed to be and we need to put that right pretty quickly on Saturday.

“Cas have been a lot more consistent than we have and they are rightly sitting above us in the table.

“They are a quality side, they showed that last year and they’re pushing for the top again this year.

“We’re expecting a real tough game.”

Hull will have goalkicking scrum-half Marc Sneyd back after he missed the trip to France due to illness and will partner him with Jake Connor after Albert Kelly picked up a hamstring injury in Perpignan.

Minichiello, who hopes to sort a new deal at Hull for next season and play on past his 37th birthday in January, is looking forward to tackling former team-mate Liam Watts.

He left in March after surprisingly being shown the door by coach Lee Radford.

But Minichiello maintains the squad left on good terms with the ex-Hull KR front-row who spent sevens seasons at KCOM Stadium.

“There’s no bad blood between us,” he said.

“He’s a good fella and no doubt he’ll be doing his best to make sure Cas get a result. He gave this club some great service, I’d like to think that the fans won’t give him too much trouble.

“He’s a great player that probably needs our attention defensively. He’s a big man who has got a lot of football in him.

“He can skip across the line, he’s got a great offload and he plays a lot of football.”

Former Castleford and England No 13 Joe Westerman could feature for Hull as he starts his second spell at the club.