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Last Updated: 29/09/18 1:10am
Castleford coach Daryl Powell is confident his side can quickly recover from their 26-0 defeat by St Helens in time for next Friday’s Super League semi-final at Wigan, live on Sky Sports .
The Tigers went into their final game of the Super 8s on the back of a five-match winning run but they were well below their best at the Totally Wicked Stadium, where they were nilled for the first time in more than three years.
Both sides were under-strength ahead of the semi-finals and Powell remains confident his team can overcome the loss to book their place in the Grand Final.
“It was a disappointing performance from us,” he said. “I thought we started well but then we made too many errors and physically St Helens were way too good for us.
Wigan Warriors vs Castleford Tigers
October 5, 2018, 7:30pm
Live on 
“If we had played until Wednesday, I don’t think we’d have scored. They defended well and our attitude wasn’t where it needed to be. Sometimes that happens leading into a big game.
“But we’ll be right next week, I’m confident of that, we’ve just got to make sure the team we know we can be turns up next week.
“We’ve been building pretty well over the last few weeks and we wanted to manage the minutes of a few players but injuries prevented us from doing that.
“We have to move on pretty quick. There is no point dwelling on it. We’re not going to get embroiled in a poor performance.
“We’ve got a group of players who are good enough to beat Wigan, I’m looking forward to the challenge. Next week is when it’s really important.”
1:02Powell will check on the fitness of half-back Jake Trueman, who came off in the second half after taking a knock, but he expects captain Michael Shenton to return after sitting out Friday’s game with a knee injury.
“Shenny is pretty good,” he said. “He will run on Sunday and we’ll see where he’s at.”
Second-rower Matty Lees scored his first try for St Helens and full-back Ben Barba touched down twice to finish top of the Super League chart with 28 tries before being rested for the last 15 minutes.
Saints confirmed Barba’s highly-anticipated end-of-season exit, to the North Queensland Cowboys, earlier in the week but coach Justin Holbrook says his impending departure has caused no disruption to his team.
“It was never an issue but at least everyone now knows what where we’re at,” Holbrook said.
“Benny’s been great for us this year. He’s finished as the top try-scorer and nearly at the top of try assists, he’s definitely made an impact this year.”
St Helens led 18-0 at half-time and hardly got out of third gear in the second half as thoughts began to turn towards next Thursday’s semi-final against Warrington.
“It was an awkward game for both sides,” Holbrook said. “Neither team were near their best.
“I’m happy with the performance, it was great to be able to keep them to nil and we can look forward to next week.”