Craig Lingard Confirms Castleford Tigers Injury Blow In Win Over Catalans Dragons

Castleford Tigers head coach Craig Lingard has confirmed an injury blow coming from their 24-18 victory over Catalans Dragons this weekend.

The Tigers grabbed their third victory in a row after a thriller at Wheldon Road, with Tex Hoy scoring a late winning try to confirm the two points.

This puts them in a great spot heading into games against Salford Red Devils and Leigh Leopards.

Following the game, Lingard gave his thoughts on the game when speaking to BBC Radio Leeds: “It got a bit tight towards the end of that game. You try and keep composed but sometimes the actions during the game get the better of you here and there at times.

“That’s the most pleasing thing was to see the game out and I thought it was a real turning point for us.

“I think in the past with we’ve conceded points and then gone into our shells, you’d have thought Catalans were the favourites to win the game but we responded to that and that’s testament to the hard work they’ve done.

“I think that was the perception of us, that we might start well or we might score a couple of tries, but if you go step-for-step then we’ll eventually crack, and once we do crack, then the dam will burst and it’ll be try after try after try.

“In some of the games that’s what happens so we just needed to change that narrative of how we were, how we saw ourselves, how other people saw us and I think we’ve seen that.”

Craig Lingard confirms Castleford Tigers injury blow to overshadow victory

Unfortunately for Castleford, Liam Watts had to leave the field due to injury, and Lingard shared more on that: “Wattsy got twisted with his knee. He tried to start the second half and get through that but you could tell quite clearly early in that second half that he wasn’t right.

“We’ll assess him tomorrow and see how he is but I think everybody else, touch wood, is okay but you can never tell straight after a game. For now though, I think we’re alright.”

In addition to Watts, the game saw Tom Johnstone, with a heavily-strapped knee, go down for a long time at the end of the first half, having to be helped off the field, which may see him out of action for much of the remainder of his time with the Dragons, after a move to Wakefield Trinity was confirmed.