Super League: Wigan Warriors v Castleford Tigers preview
Last Updated: 13/06/14 12:07pm
Wigan will be looking to avenge their shock Challenge Cup defeat when they welcome Castleford Tigers back to the DW Stadium in Super League on Friday.
The holders were dumped out of the cup by the Tigers in a 16-4 defeat last Saturday – their first loss in a Challenge Cup home tie for 28 years.
Due to a quirk of the fixture list, the pair will do battle again less than a week later and the winners of the double in 2013 are aiming to win to draw level with their opponents on 22 points in the Super League table.
Full-back Matt Bowen insists the Warriors must put the cup defeat quickly behind them and focus on Friday’s game.
He said: "We are out of the cup now so we have to concentrate on what it is to come. It was disappointing and it was a long weekend to think about it.
"Castleford defended well, our last tackle options were not the best, but we are confident we can fix it to push forward.
"It would have been nice to go even further and make it to Wembley but it was not meant to be. But we have the league as something to look forward to
Credit
"I didn't know much about Castleford before I arrived but credit to them, they seem to be playing really well and good luck to them, I hope they go far in the cup.
Castleford defended well, our last tackle options were not the best, but we are confident we can fix it to push forward.
Matt Bowen
"It keeps us to one competition to think about and we are looking forward to putting it right this time around."
Wigan head coach Shaun Wane makes three changes to his 19 man squad, with Scott Taylor, Darrell Goulding and Sam Powell coming in for Jack Hughes, Ryan Sutton and Greg Burke.
Ben Flower and Liam Farrell both continue in the squad after feeling no side effects following their returns from injury last weekend.
For Castleford, coach Daryl Powell has also made three changes to his squad as the Tigers seek a fourth consecutive win over the Warriors.
Justin Carney returns from a two-match suspension, Nathan Massey has recovered from an ankle injury while Ben Reynolds could make his first appearance of the season.
Jake Webster, Andy Lynch and Daryl Clark are the players to miss out.
Warriors squad: Bateman, Bowen, Burgess, Crosby, Dudson, Farrell, Flower, Gelling, Goulding, Hampshire, James, Manfredi, McIlorum, O'Loughlin, Powell, Sarginson, Smith, Taylor, Williams.
Tigers squad: Carney, Clare, Dixon, Dorn, Ellis, Finn, Gibson, Hauraki, Holmes, Huby, Jewitt, Mariano, Massey, Millington, Milner, Reynolds, Shenton, Sneyd, Wheeldon.
Watch Wigan take on Castleford live on Sky Sports 1HD at 8pm on Friday evening.
