Castleford Tigers boss Craig Lingard issues 'shock' warning for Challenge Cup tie at Batley Bulldogs

Lingard is Bulldogs’ all-time leading try scorer and has a terrace named after him at the club where he spent his entire playing career. He also had a spell as assistant-coach and guided them to the Betfred Championship Grand final and 1895 Cup decider at Wembley during four seasons as team boss.

The Challenge Cup sixth round tie is the sort of game he would have relished in his old role, with Mount Pleasant’s notorious hill making it a tough venue for visiting teams and not something his side are used to. “It will be a shock to some of our players who haven’t been there before when they come out and see the slope,” Lingard conceded.

“It is something we are going to have to contend with, but it’s something we are looking forward to. Everyone is going to be quite rightly seeing this as a potential upset, but we've got to make sure we embrace the challenge. If we turn up thinking it's only a Championship club and we're going to win easily, we'll get beat. You can't underestimate them at all.”

Lingard combined his job at Batley last year with being assistant-coach for Tigers, under Andy Last and then Danny Ward. He admitted his phone was “pinging off the hook” within moments of the draw being made, but won’t let his background become a distraction. “It’s not about me,” he stressed.

“It is a good tie for Batley because it’s a Super League club at home and hopefully it will be a good money-earner for them. But we’ve got more important things to think about, rather than it being focussed on me. It is more about the club and the team as a whole; it's about getting Castleford their first win of the season and into the next round of the Cup.”

Tigers, who have lost their five Super League games so far, will be boosted by the return from injury of Danny Richardson and Paul McShane. Liam Watts is available following a four-game ban and ex-Batley man Josh Hodson could make his debut after recovering from a foot injury.

Castleford Tigers: from Hooley, Simm, Broadbent, Senior, Richardson, Miller, Watts, McShane, Mellor, Westerman, Horne, Milnes, Hodson, Hall, Namo, Robb, Martin, Kibula, Vete, Hill, Johnson.

Referee: Marcus Griffiths (Widnes). Kick-off: Saturday, 3pm.