Leeds United fan Jimmy Keinhorst looking forward to Elland Road outing with Hull KR

The Robins booked their place in the Elland Road Challenge Cup double-header with a 34-10 win over Castleford Tigers, a team Keinhorst had a brief spell on loan with last year.

And the former Rhinos man revealed: “I don’t follow football as much as some of the other lads, but if I do follow anyone it is Leeds United.”

He said: “It will be great to play at Elland Road, it will be a great occasion. I played there a few years ago against Hull KR [when his hat-trick won a Super League game for Rhinos] and it was a good occasion then.

“I am looking forward to going back for the semis and hopefully we can do a job and bring our great supporters along with us to push us through it.”

Despite the scoreline, Rovers did not have it all their own way against Castleford, who trailed by only two points in the third quarter.

Keinhorst reflected: “We started well and stuck to our process, but then let them back in a little bit.

“We were a little bit disappointed with that at half-time, but we knew if we stuck to what we know we can do and pushed on in the second half, we could bring it home.

“It was a great effort from everyone, with a few chopping and changing in different positions. Credit to all our boys, especially the middles who really fronted up.”

A string of injuries early in the second half disrupted the game. Among Rovers’ casualties were Sam Wood with a popped rib, Jordan Abdull, who had to be assessed following a head injury and Mikey Lewis (ankle).

Wood and Abdull returned to score the final two tries, but Keinhorst admitted the injuries are a concern ahead of the Easter fixture pile-up.

“I think maybe a couple of them are serious, which is unfortunate,” he said.

“You don’t want to see that for your team or the other side, so all the best to those boys.

“It made it a bit stop-start, but I think once we got past that we stuck to our focus quite well.”

The Robins are back in action on Good Friday in a home derby against Hull FC.

That is already a sell-out and Keinhorst will be hoping for a repeat of 2019 when he scored the winning try with 12 seconds left on the clock.

“That’s a good memory,” he said. “We’re looking forward to Friday, it will be a big one.

“I’ve not played in a Good Friday derby yet so it will be a new experience for me and a few of the other lads as well.

“We just have to stick to our processes through the week and try to keep improving.

“We know we can improve on [last week’s performance].

“I think we have improved in the last three weeks in certain areas and it’s just about keeping that consistency going.

“That’s the challenge every week.

“We feel we are getting better, but Hull is going to be a massive test for us and they’ll throw plenty at us.

“We will have to be right on it.”