Lee Radford admits he has big task to lift Castleford Tigers players for play-off shoot-out

The Tigers' top-six hopes were hanging by a thread after they shipped 50 points in a chastening home defeat by Salford Red Devils, but Radford's men have a lifeline thanks to Leeds Rhinos' loss to Catalans Dragons, writes James O’Brien..

The result in Monday's late kick-off means Castleford and local rivals Leeds will face off at Headingley on Saturday for the final play-off place.

The Tigers now have to get themselves up for one more challenge and quickly consign the Salford game to the bin. But Radford has expressed doubts over whether his team can recover from a painful defeat in their last home game of the season.

He said: "How we looked physically is a real issue. Two games in the amount of days we played, the lack of numbers in our squad – you could argue it's to be expected.

"My chin hit the floor with the way we started in that first 20 minutes.

"It was two different levels of performance. I thought they were fantastic. They looked energetic, fast and played some really, really good football; we looked busted, old and tired unfortunately.

"The scoreline probably reflects that. I'm deflated and scratching my head a little bit as to how we get right for Saturday.

"We've got to try and find 17 fit players and ask them to go out and do their best."

Busted Castleford Tigers are put to the sword by play-off rivals Salford

Radford was left to bemoan the players he had missing and the Tigers’ cause was worsened when they lost half-back Danny Richardson to a knee injury in the first half.

He added: "It doesn't look great again. We might have lost another one there for a long period of time. The physio is fearing the worst.

"We've got a spine you wouldn't dream of playing if you had a fully-fit squad.

"Our middle looked horrendous due to the fatigue of the game. It's been an incredible season in that way.

"Then you throw in a team like Salford who I genuinely think could do something. They're a pleasure to watch.

"I'm definitely envious. We definitely would be in a better position with our first choice spine."