Lingard is a Leeds United fan and was in the crowd for their opening two matches this season, so is hoping for a better outcome on Sunday when Tigers face Huddersfield Giants in the final fixture of Betfred Super League’s Magic Weekend.
“It is nice being at pitchside, better than being at the other side looking in,” Lingard admitted. “I’ve been there a lot of times, but not from that angle.”
On the face of it, this game doesn’t seem to have a lot riding on it, but Lingard reckons it could, in fact, make or break Tigers’ season. Castleford are 10th in the table, one place behind Giants and the coach pointed out: “They are a point ahead of us so if we win, we’ll go above them.
“It is a massive game, huge. At the start of the season we said if we could be at the top of the bottom four, that would be a successful season and the ultimate of what we could have achieved. We are not too far off that now.”
He added: “There’s a lot of positivity around the club at the minute about where we’ve come from to where we are, but that could quite easily drop down if we don’t win another game this season.
“We don’t want the positivity we’ve had this season to stop and then the season peters out. It is a massive game in terms of league positions, but also in terms of keeping that progression moving forward.”
Six wins and a draw is probably more than most Tigers fans expected 21 rounds into a campaign when they have been operating on a reduced budget, but Lingard knows results over the next six weeks are what the season will be remembered for.
“If we don’t win another game between now and the end of the season we’ll probably see it as a negative, even though we’ve got more points than last season on a lesser budget,” he warned. “We need to make sure, performance-wise and results-wise, we do the best we can between now and the end of the season and if we can beat Huddersfield, they are chasing to get back above us.”
Four players are back in contention for Tigers following injury, including two long-term casualties. Hooker Paul McShane has been sidelined with an arm injury and centre Will Tate could make his first senior appearance since fracturing and dislocating an ankle a year ago. He made his comeback in a reserves game last week.
Corey Hall, who missed last week’s loss at Hull KR because of concussion protocols, is also recalled to Tigers’ 21-man squad and forward Brad Martin could return from a back problem. Substitute hooker Cain Robb suffered a dislocated shoulder last week and could be sidelined for the rest of this season.
Castleford Tigers’ Cain Robb will miss Magic Weekend – and could be sidelined for the rest of the season – after suffering a dislocated shoulder. Picture by Ed Sykes/SWpix.com.
Castleford Tigers’ Cain Robb will miss Magic Weekend – and could be sidelined for the rest of the season – after suffering a dislocated shoulder. Picture by Ed Sykes/SWpix.com.
Giants welcome back centre Esan Marsters who has been named in their 21-man squad for the first time since suffering a knee injury in a defeat at Catalans Dragons in June. Ashton Golding and Matty English return to Giants’ initial squad, but academy product Aidan McGowan is ruled out after failing a head injury assessment during last week’s one-point home loss to Catalans.
Huddersfield Giants: from Connor, Marsters, Naiqama, Bibby, Lolohea, C Hill, Milner, Hewitt, Golding, English, Rushton, Ikahihifo, Deakin, Cudjoe, Livett, Russell, Halsall, Rogers, Salabio, Rush, Savelio.
Castleford Tigers: from I Senior, Miller, Watts, McShane, Lawler, El-Zakhem, Mellor, Westerman, Horne, Milnes, Putt, Mustapha, Namo, Qareqare, Martin, Tate, G Hill, Johnson, Hindmarsh, Hoy, C Hall.
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