Castleford Tigers have confirmed that captain Michael Shenton could be set to miss the ENTIRETY of the 2016 season due to injury.

Shenton will undergo surgery after Shenton suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury following a tackle from John Boudebza during Sunday’s season opener against Hull KR.

Cas coach Daryl Powell slammed the tackle afterwards, and it’s now been confirmed he’s set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

“It’s a massive blow for us and we now need to see a response from a few other players within our team,” said Powell. Our leadership is going to need to develop across a few players. These things happen, but it is pretty tough to take.”

“It’s really disappointing the type of tackles that can do that to people are still in the game. There’s a job needs to be done in terms of dealing with that, but that is no consolation to Shenny or to us.”

Shenton himself said: “Some of you will have already heard that my season has ended before it began with a knee injury sustained yesterday which is extremely frustrating for me.

“I’ve had a great pre-season and felt fresh coming into the season so to have it cut short from a reckless challenge is difficult for me to swallow but I’ll be doing all I can off the field to support the boys through this season.”