Rovers host the Tigers on Thursday evening
Oliver Gildart picked up an ankle injury against Toulouse
Hull KR kick off round 10 of Super League as they face off against Castleford Tigers at Craven Park on Thursday evening.
The east Hull outfit will be the strong favourites to get the points on this occasion and Willie Peters’ side will be looking to claim their sixth straight wins in all competitions.
A result would take them to within two points of top spot for 24 hours at least and avoiding a slip up would only reinforce how dangerous they are starting to look as the season gathers pace.
Castleford, on the other hand, have been inconsistent to say the least, beating Wigan Warriors a fortnight ago before being thumped by Hull FC last Friday night at Wheldon Road.
They’ve won three games all year, but the difference between their best performance and their worst has been wild.
Ryan Carr has added to his squad this week, with Tyler Dupree and Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e joining on permanent deals, while Brad Dwyer and Tom Nicholson-Watton have joined on short-term loans.
All those players can expect to feature at Craven Park, but whether they’ll have had enough time to fully settle in remains to be seen.
With that in mind, here’s how we expect both sides to line up this week.
We’ll start with the Robins, who have named Oliver Gildart and Joe Burgess in the squad. Gildart missed last week with an ankle injury, while Burgess was ill, and both are fit and ready to go, they’ll play against the Tigers.
If both men are fit, Noah Booth can be expected to drop out, while Rhyse Martin might just be moved onto the bench, despite his strong showing at centre last weekend.
The rest of the starting XIII looks set to remain untouched, with the only other changes coming on the bench. Bill Leyland has returned to St Helens on loan, while Jordan Dezaria isn’t involved either.
Karl Lawton can be expected to come back onto the bench then this week.
Carr looks set to make a raft of changes to his line-up, with Laulu-Togaga’e coming in at full-back.
George Lawler, who started in the front-row last week, is suspended for his hit on Ligi Sao and that opens the door for Dupree to start, while Dwyer will either start at hooker or come off the bench.
Jordan Lane will surely return to his more natural back-rower spot after playing hooker last week.
Ashton Golding is fit and could be named on the bench as a utility man. Nicholson-Watton will play after his loan from Leeds, while Jimmy Beckett has been recalled from his loan at Sheffield Eagles and could be set to feature for the Tigers.
Predicted Hull KR v Castleford Tigers teams
Hull KR : Jack Broadbent; Tom Davies, Peta Hiku, Oliver Gildart, Joe Burgess; Mikey Lewis, Tyrone May; Sauaso Sue, Jez Litten, Tom Amone; Dean Hadley, James Batchelor; Elliot Minchella
Bench: Sam Luckley, Jai Whitbread, Rhyse Martin, Karl Lawton
Castleford Tigers: Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e; Mikaele Ravalawa, Darnell McIntosh, Krystian Mapapalangi, Jason Qareqare; Daejarn Asi, Tom Weaver; Tyler Dupree, Brad Dwyer, Renouf Atoni; Jordan Lane, Alex Mellor; Joe Stimson.
Bench: Brock Greacen, Jimmy Beckett, Tom Nicholson-Watton, Ashton Golding.