Shenton progressing on road to recovery

Castleford centre Michael Shenton says his recovery from a knee reconstruction is going well and he is hopeful of being back on the park for the Tigers this season.

Shenton suffered a serious knee ligament injury in Castleford’s first Super League game of 2016 against Hull KR.

The England international is back in light training and running by himself.

“It’s been a good recovery,” he told Love Rugby League.

“It feels strong to me and I’m kind of a bit ahead of the schedule and where you would normally be at.

“It’s vague with a knee reconstruction, it depends on how well the surgeon does it and then how well you body recovers naturally and how well your rehab’s going.

“All of that has gone really well and I’ve just taken it step by step. I haven’t pushed it massively but I have pushed it just enough to keep myself moving forward.

“I’ve got in a really good place where I’m on the field, I’m running, I’m training. Not with the boys just yet but hopefully not too for away from taking part in some field sessions.

“It’s just the agility and the contact side of things that I’m trying to get back at the moment.”

Shenton said his aim is to return playing this year, but there is no outside pressure on speeding up his return.

“Maybe yeah, [but] there’s no pressure,” he said.

“A little bit of pressure by myself because I’d like to play. I’d like to finish the season with a bit of a positive note and moving into the Super 8s.

“There’s still ambition for me to play this season but it’s how I come out of the next month is really important to me.

“Hopefully I’ll get discharged August time from the consultant and see how I go from there, that will leave a few games.

“And with one of my best mates Luke Dorn retiring, it would be nice to play a few games with him before he calls it a day.”