Leeds v Castleford preview
Leeds Rhinos are set to recall centre Kallum Watkins (ankle) after he missed the defeats by St Helens and Catalans.
Watkins has been out of action since the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup Final but is set to return now against the Tigers.
Rob Burrow is also named in the 19 man squad but the hooker faces a race against time to be declared fit in time for Thursday's game. If he doesn't make it this week, he will almost certainly return against Huddersfield Giants.
The Rhinos are without Mitch Achurch, who suffered a hand injury against Catalans, whilst Jimmy Keinhorst remains on the sidelines with the eye injury he suffered against St Helens.
Daryl Powell makes just one change to the team who narrowly lost out to St.Helens last Thursday night, with Matt Cook returning from suspension, replacing Gadwin Springer.
Head coach Powell is keen the stress that his team have not clocked off despite being out of the race to make the top four play offs:
“I’m really disappointed with our last three games where we’ve not quite been able to get the job done, we’ve scored enough points but defensively we’ve been too leaky really. That’s been the tail of our last three games, we’ve had a chance and it’s slipped away from us.
Ultimately there is still a lot to play for and the players that are here have a fair bit of pride about them an we’ve got a good opportunity to finish fifth. I think it’s important we continue to play well and don’t put our cue on the rack, it’s crucial we maintain our standards and I am confident that will happen.”
Leeds: Hardaker, T. Briscoe, Watkins, Moon, Hall, McGuire, Burrow, Leuluai, Peacock, Ablett, Sinfield, S. Ward, Delaney, Cuthbertson, Singleton, Walters, Golding, Lilley, Garbutt.
Castleford: Dorn, Shenton, Roberts, Gale, Lynch, Milner, Millington, O. Holmes, Cook, Boyle, Moors, Wheeldon, Solomona, Finn, Channing, McMeeken, Gibson, Maher, McShane.
