Others may follow Hull's lead warns Millington after Castleford's Challenge Cup exit

ALL CASTLEFORD Tigers' eggs are now in one basket and forward Grant Millington admits their next two games are crucial.
Grant Millington. PIC: Jonathan GawthorpeGrant Millington. PIC: Jonathan Gawthorpe
Grant Millington. PIC: Jonathan Gawthorpe

Tigers will back-up from their Ladbrokes Challenge Cup quarter-final defeat at Hull two days ago when they visit Leeds Rhinos on Friday.

Millington reckons the 32-24 loss at KCOM Stadium highlighted areas Tigers need to improve and will have given future opponents a battle plan.

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“That’s twice they [Hull] have done that – they’ve blown us away and we’ve struggled to get back into the game,” he said.

Challenge Cup semi-finalists Hull FC after their victory over Castleford Tigers.Challenge Cup semi-finalists Hull FC after their victory over Castleford Tigers.
Challenge Cup semi-finalists Hull FC after their victory over Castleford Tigers.

“We’ve got them again in two weeks so hopefully we can do ourselves justice and try and win back a bit of dignity against them.

“But if we beat them in one game it’s not going to make up for getting knocked out of the Cup. We are hurting a lot.

“We had our eye on the trophy, but it puts our focus on to something else now.

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“We have got to work really hard to stay at the top of the league and push for the Grand Final.”

Challenge Cup semi-finalists Hull FC after their victory over Castleford Tigers.Challenge Cup semi-finalists Hull FC after their victory over Castleford Tigers.
Challenge Cup semi-finalists Hull FC after their victory over Castleford Tigers.

Tigers are six points clear in Betfred Super League ahead of the trip to third-placed Leeds and then the clash with Hull, who are fourth, a week later.

Millington reckons two wins would “put us in a good position”.

But he insisted: “It’s the old cliché; we have to take it week by week.

“Anything can happen in this game.

“A lot of people touted us to beat Hull, but we got dusted.

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“We’ve got to be a lot better, especially in the middle. Their back-three were fantastic, they busted us up and their forwards got on the back of that and rolled them up the park.

“It will probably give Leeds a bit of a plan for where they are going to come for us so we have to work hard this week and be ready for it come Friday.”

Reflecting on Tigers’ Cup exit, Millington added: ”It’s extremely disappointing.

“We went there knowing we were very capable of winning, but we turned up and we just weren’t good enough.

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“We had a few mistakes around halfway on the pitch and they really just nailed us to the wall; we gave away penalties on the back of that and they kept slotting goals. It is hard to come back when you are on the back foot like that.

“We felt like we were chasing our tails all day, we weren’t fluent with the ball.

“We felt like we did well to get ourselves back in the game because we were very scrappy.

“But we were just hanging in there.

“Credit to Hull, they played very well and they did a job on us.”