Castleford Tigers' Danny McGuire explains 20-man squad decision v Hull FC, makes 'we're ready' promise

Coaches normally select their matchday side from 21 players announced two days before a game. Centre Josh Hodson is back in contention for Tigers, but second-rower Jeremiah Simbiken misses out after suffering a hamstring injury in last Saturday’s loss to Catalans Dragons and loose-forward George Hill - who was 18th man - has joined Salford Red Devils on loan.

That leaves Tigers down to 20 available bodies in their senior squad and McGuire said: “I've got a couple of young lads who we could have probably put in the 21, but I didn't feel like they were ready for it or had earned that opportunity yet.

“Their time will come and we decided to go with 20. There's obviously a fair bit going on regarding recruitment, but it was down to the fact that's the 20 we've got available and ready to play.”

The 26-4 defeat by Catalans was played in heavy rain at the Jungle and McGuire is hopeful conditions will be more favourable for tomorrow’s game, though he admitted his side must learn to cope when they are not. “You need to be able to adapt and those conditions changed literally just before kick-off,” he said.

“Our plan was to try and move the ball and exploit some of their bigger middles, but we couldn’t quite do that in the conditions. When we did do it, we looked threatening. I feel like our strengths are moving the ball and being expansive and hopefully we'll see that now the weather is picking up and the tracks are getting drier.”

But the coach warned: “If we're going to allow our players to do that, we need to be able to defend. We’re probably not quite where we need to be in both those departments at this minute, but we will get there.”

Hull are third in the table and have already equalled last year’s points total, with only five rounds played. “They look a lot more resilient this year,” McGuire noted. “They are keeping themselves in games and finding a way to get the job done. That's a great characteristic to have.

“John Carwright [Hull’s coach] has got a lot of experience and seems like he has got them enjoying playing again, which is something you haven't associated with Hull FC over the last couple of years. He has done a really good job so far and it’ll be a big challenge for us.

“They are playing with confidence and some players are playing really well - [Herman] Ese'ese, [Aidan] Sezer, [John] Asiata. I’m a big fan of the young full-back [Logan Moy] and winger [Lewis] Martin as well. It’ll be a good challenge for us, but one I feel we can meet and we are ready for.”

Castleford Tigers: from Hoy, Cini, Wood, I Senior, Asi, Milnes, Horne, Lawler, Mellor, Westerman, Rimbu, Griffin, Robb, Hodson, Mustapha, Namo, Simm, Windley, Okora, Singleton.

Hull FC: from Rapana, Chamberlain, Briscoe, Sezer, Ese’ese, Bourouh, Lane, Asiata, Cust, Ashworth, Fash, Litten, Martin, Moy, Salabio, Kirby, Hutchison, Kemp, Eseh, Knight, Watts.

Referee: Liam Moore (Wigan). Kick-off: Thursday, 8pm.