Castleford sweat on scans for prop while Andy Last remains optimistic on injured duo

Castleford are awaiting scans on prop forward Liam Watts after the 32-year-old suffered a blow to an AC joint in the 38-0 defeat to Warrington at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle. 

Watts was forced from the action and was later seen in a sling due to the shoulder issue. He has featured in every round so far this season for the Tigers, who sit 11th in the table with one win from six.

But Castleford will be forced to wait for scan results to learn the extent of the injury, with a worst case scenario pointing towards up to eight weeks on the sidelines.

“He’s going for a scan as we speak,” head coach Andy Last said on Tuesday afternoon.

“Hopefully we get good news from that.

“A bad one can be six to eight weeks, and a steady one can be a two to three.

“Hopefully we get positive news from that in the next couple of hours.”

Andy Last provides latest on injury duo

Meanwhile, Last is hoping to have duo Paul McShane and Nathan Massey available for their trip to Catalans on Saturday.

The side will fly out on Thursday, before the Super League Round Seven clash in Perpignan over the weekend.

Captain McShane, 33, was forced from action against Daryl Powell’s Warrington due to a dead leg.

“He’s responded really well to treatment,” Last explained.

“I’m hoping that in a couple of days, intensive treatment while we’re away, he’ll be available to play in the 17 that takes the field against Catalans.

“He picked up a bit of a dead leg above the knee. Unfortunately half-time came at the wrong time for us in terms of the injury.

“He had to sit down and tried to keep moving but it stiffened up to the point where he really struggled with his mobility. So we made the decision to take him off with a view to the Catalans trip and obviously the Wakefield trip.”

Meanwhile, there were concerns following Friday’s defeat that 33-year-old Massey suffered a fractured eye socket.

“We got the information that he was blowing his nose and it looked like he’s popped his eye socket. That was a devastating blow in the game,” Last said.

“We ended up with only one fit body (on the bench) with 25 minutes to go.

“In a strange sort of way, we faced some adversity in that game. Albeit 38 points to nil isn’t great. But there was some adversity during the game that we were faced with. That was tough.”

However, it’s somewhat good news for the forward, with a different injury confirmed following a check up with a specialist.

“It looks like he’s going to be available for selection,” Last said.

“Basically, some small bone in his nose was fractured and when he’s blown, he’s caused the blow hole so to speak to cause a problem in his eye.

“It’s more of a nasal fracture rather than an eye socket fracture. So we got some good news from that scan result.

“These rugby players are tough and Massey is one of the tough guys. He got the all clear from the doctor and he said he wants to be up for selection.

“He’s had a little bit of bruising in the eye. But the specialist said it’s a small fracture in the nose and he’ll able to play with it.”

Meanwhile, Castleford will be without Adam Milner following a two-match suspension.

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