Castleford coach Daryl Powell said his side will have picked up “a few bruised egos” following their second defeat of the season on Easter Monday.
The Tigers were noticeably below-par, going down 26-22 to St Helens in their first victory since sacking Keiron Cunningham.
Powell said his side didn’t have any injury concerns from the match – but said their pride will have taken a hit after lamenting a disappointing first-half display.
He said: “I don’t think we’ve picked up too much apart from a few bruised egos.
“In the first half we just got beaten for attitude and energy. We started okay but their speed at the play the ball was far superior to ours.
“We defended well on our line but we made too many errors in posession. Weight of posession at Easter is always going to be crucial – and we were on the wrong end of it.
“We were just not right in between our ears today. I said to the boys at half-time that we needed to keep them out if we were to go on and win – but we didn’t manage to do it.”
The result ensured Castleford’s lengthy wait for a win in St Helens went on. They have not won a competitive fixture in the town since 1992 – when they won in the Regal Trophy – and Powell was loathe to blame the referee despite apparent controversy over Regan Grace’s winning try.
“The fans thought the try at the end was a knock-on,” he said.
“But it’s a try isn’t it? We have to improve and we will have to respond. The boys are disappointed. We haven’t won here for a long time and we thought we could have done that today.”
Powell said Rangi Chase missed the game with a wrist problem – and he will be assessed this week ahead of the trip to Hull FC on Sunday.
