Lee Radford targets 'unbelievable' achievement as he lays down challenge to Castleford Tigers

The Tigers occupy the final play-off place heading into the home straight, albeit on points difference.

Castleford have several teams for company but are within striking distance of Radford's former club Hull FC.

It is all to play for in the final 12 games of the season as far as Radford is concerned.

"If this club can finish fifth, I think that would be an unbelievable achievement and we would have milked a fair bit out of this group," he said.

"Likewise, we've thrown in the odd really poor performance - the last time at Catalans. From a consistently level, that's always a frustration as a coach.

"Looking back at it overall, we've had one or two key blokes missing throughout the year in certain positions. To a point, some things can be expected.

"I just think there's a lot more in us looking at this last third of the season. There's plenty of twists and turns to come.

"The four teams that are up there have been really, really consistent in what they've delivered.

"Between the rest of us, there's been some real inconsistency and whoever can piece that up the quickest and get some momentum going can really make a push for that fifth spot."

Castleford are coming out of a stop-start period that has seen Radford's men play just four games in eight weeks.

Radford is looking forward to a clear run to the end of the season during the summer months.

"It gives you an opportunity to gather some momentum," he said.

"The weather makes a difference in the footy you play at this time of year. You tend to see the best product of rugby.

"Hopefully we can continue to get some blokes back to put some depth into the squad. The knock-on effect of that for us is competition for places."

The Tigers kick off the run-in against Catalans Dragons with fresh memories of their humbling defeat in Perpignan at the end of April.

Radford has called on his players to front up and attack the return fixture with the right mindset.

"Physically we were completely dominated over there," he said.

"We had a really short turnaround going into the game and very little time on the field. Mentally I don't think we got ourselves right to go over there and perform in pretty tricky conditions.

"A big improvement for us this week is making sure we're emotionally right for the game."