Powell: Absences will test our squad

Daryl Powell has backed Castleford to cope with three important absentees at Huddersfield on Thursday.

With Zak Hadaker, Luke Gale and Mike McMeeken on England duty, Powell has recalled Tom Holmes, Kevin Larroyer and Kieran Gill from their loan clubs.

The Tigers currently lead the Super League by a point, but will face a Giants team buoyed by their 31-12 victory at Leeds last weekend.

“Huddersfield have some injuries and we have some players missing on international duty and some injuries of our own to cope with, so it’s an important game for us,” Powell told the club’s official website.

“It’s an exciting challenge that we are missing some of our better players and it will be an interesting one on Thursday night.

“It’s a great opportunity for some of the players who haven’t played as much this year, or who are coming into the squad to play for the first time, to do well and it challenges our squad depth to see where we are at.”