Danny McGuire has explained the absence of two Castleford Tigers players ahead of Saturday's pre-season clash against Hull FC. The Fords take on the Black and Whites in Joe Westerman's testimonial match before competitive action starts for both sides in the Challenge Cup next week.

Meanwhile, Castleford, who have named a smaller squad for the runout at Wheldon Road, have two fresh blows to contend with, with Fijian winger Jason Qareqare pulling out of training earlier this week with a hamstring issue. He will miss the clash, as will Josh Hodson, who is ill.

Speaking ahead of the game, McGuire, who is expecting a response from his side after last week's 32-8 defeat at Wakefield Trinity, said: "We went with a bigger squad against Wakefield, but we are trying to keep it more real this week. We are missing Jason Qareqare; he has picked up an injury, and Josh Hodson is ill and isn’t available for selection.

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"Jason’s injury is still to be determined; he pulled out of training the other day. It was some form of hamstring issue and will probably be out for a few weeks."

Castleford will trial a new half-back combination against Hull, with one-time FC target and Papua New Guinea international Judah Rimbu set to play alongside Daejarn Asi in the halves. McGuire played Westerman alongside Asi last week, with Roman Milnes currently sidelined to injury.

The head coach continued: "Rowan was going really well in training, and his combination with DJ was just getting going. Judah has experience in the halves; we gave Westy a shot last week, but it probably didn’t work.

"We have got some other little plans that we may put into action tomorrow. Judah Rimbu is happy to play anywhere; he is tough, and you know what you’ll get out of him.

"Rowan will be back around round two or three. I had challenged him to have a big year, and I think he was well on his way to doing that. We have got a really young, talented player in Jenson Windley who will be a star of the future, but we will take our time with him and put him in when he is physically ready."

And as for Saturday's game, McGuire is expecting his Castleford players to come out firing. He added: "I don’t think we did ourselves justice against Wakefield. I would be very surprised if we didn’t see a reaction this week."