Castleford Tigers coach Lee Radford will be sweating on the fitness of several key personnel ahead of their Challenge Cup clash against Leeds Rhinos on Saturday.
The Tigers lost Cheyse Blair, Joe Westerman (pictured) and Gareth O’Brien at various stages of the game against Wigan Warriors on Thursday evening.
Castleford went down 32-22 at the DW Stadium and were trailing 28-6 at one point, but Radford is proud of his team for the way they kept going and he is confident the wins will start to come if they can avoid any more injuries.
“We are averaging three injuries a week,” said Radford. “We are haemorrhaging.
“Westy (Joe Westerman) has gone to the hospital with his eye. Cheyse Blair has got a cut on his hand but it looks like it has gone through his ligaments. Gaz O’Brien copped a nose bleed that has not stopped running. It’s like a tap.
“I don’t know how Joe’s happened. We were down to our last interchange and Daniel Smith was set to come off. He must have got a finger in the eye and we had to bring Joe off at the end.”
The Tigers lost their fifth game of the season, but Radford is confident that he will turn things around sooner rather than later.
“I’m not a fantastic loser at the best of times,” added Radford.
“But the effort, spirit and commitment shown in that game was phenomenal.
“If I can get some troops back over the next couple of weeks that are sat in the stands and continue showing the effort we have done, then I am confident that we can turn this around.
“Nobody left anything out on that field. I can sleep soundly knowing that they have done that.”
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