Castleford Tigers head coach Daryl Powell admits his side are not bothered about a quick turnaround in games this week, as they look to overcome their first defeat of the season against London on Thursday.
The Broncos have had two days extra rest than their opponents, having played last Friday. However, Powell is not concerned with that, and claims his side are chomping at the bit to get out and play.
“We’re quite pleased to have a short turnaround when you consider what we delivered last weekend. I don’t think it’s a major issue for this point that we’re going to be playing again so quickly,” Powell said.
“Whether it’s fair or not there is no point complaining about it, because we’re going to have to do it a few times this season.”
The Broncos are still without a win in 2014, but Powell claims his side will have to improve on last week’s 23-16 against Salford if they are to return from the capital with the points.
“I watched them play against Leeds and against Wakefield so I’ve seen a little bit of them. They’re tough and physical and they look pretty fit. They get around the field and they have challenged teams in patches.
“It’s all about us and us performing well. We got rattled last week for different reasons and weren’t as good as we needed to be. They’ll see it as an opportunity for them and we’ve got to make sure they don’t get that opportunity.”
On the injury front, Powell confirmed that Jake Webster will miss the next “couple of weeks” with a groin injury, but did say that Ryan Boyle and Ashley Gibson will continue their returns from injury on Wednesday night, when they play for York’s reserve outfit.
“Jake’s going to be a couple of weeks; he’s got a problem with his groin that isn’t as bad as we first thought, but it’s still going to take him a couple of weeks to get over it.
“Ryan Boyle will play for York’s reserves on Wednesday and Ashley Gibson will play too. That’s a couple of players who are coming back from injury so over the next few weeks we’ll hopefully be even stronger.”
Webster is one of two changes in the Tigers squad for this Thursday’s game, with Richard Owen also missing out. They have been replaced by James Clare and youngster Brad Day, who could be set for a debut at The Hive.
Castleford 19-man squad to face London (Thursday, The Hive, 8pm): Shenton, Carney, Dorn, Sneyd, Lynch, Milner, Huby, Millington, Hauraki, Massey, Clark, Holmes, Mariano, Ellis, Channing, Clare, Fleming, Finn, Day.
