Castleford Tigers injury situation as Lee Radford updates on short and long-term absentees

Lee Radford has provided a comprehensive update on his injury-ravaged Castleford squad - with the Tigers coach hopeful Niall Evalds can be back 'sooner rather than later' and the likes of Nathan Massey and Adam Milner can follow in the short-term. Radford also revealed that Ryan Hampshire is likely to play for the club's reserves this weekend after penning a trial deal with the Tigers.

Castleford are without a whole host of key names as they prepare for a daunting trip to Wigan on Thursday night. Jordan Turner is the latest key man to drop out of their squad for that game, with the Jamaican international picking up a fractured hand that could sideline him for a month. Evalds, Milner and Massey are also among the big names missing that trip across the Pennines.

When asked about Evalds' injury, Radford said: "It's a hamstring. How long, hopefully it's sooner rather than later but it's not soon enough, unfortunately." Milner and Massey, two mainstays of the Castleford side in recent seasons, have also struggled with problems, but Milner has had an injection to correct a back issue and Massey is making encouraging progress on his own return from injury. The hope is they could both be fit to feature in the imminent future.

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"Massey will be a couple of weeks hopefully," Radford said. "He's ticking a lot of boxes but he came back from the injury and re-did it, so we're conscious we don't want a repeat of that. Adam Milner is getting closer, he's had an injection in his back on Monday and he feels a lot better for it so hopefully the impingement has gone. Hopefully that continues."

There is also no return date pencilled in for the Tigers' three long-term injury