Westerman on road to recovery

Castleford youngster Joe Westerman is making encouraging progress in his recovery from a head injury.

The 19-year-old loose forward was taken to hospital after suffering a knock and having a fit on the field during a defeat by St Helens a fortnight ago.

Westerman is now back in training but coach Terry Matterson will not rush him back for this weekend's Carnegie Challenge Cup tie against Halifax if not fully fit, as he said: "He hasn't done any contact yet and he'll need to do three or four days of contact before we consider him."

He added: "He's passed his head tests and things are looking good but I am not going to make any pre-determined decisions on when he'll play.

"He'll play when he's ready and when the doctor says he's OK."

Matterson will this week assess the fitness of full-back Richard Owen, who took a blow to the hip in Sunday's loss to Hull in the engage Super League's Magic Weekend at Murrayfield.

Owen could face a spell on the sidelines but Matterson is hopeful second row Dean Widders could return to ease the injury list after a calf tear.

"We're OK, but we can't afford too many more," Matterson said. "We're basically down to our last 17 with Richard out now."