WILL Maher is set to miss Castleford Tigers' entire pre-season preparations after undergoing surgery on an injury.

The former Ulverston junior, who made three appearances for the Super League side in 2018 and played in the Betfred Championship for Halifax on dual-registration terms, ruptured a pectoral muscle during Castleford's first pre-season training session.

Prop Maher has already undergone an operation to fix the injury, but Tigers physio Matty Crowther expects him to be sidelined for some time.

"Unfortunately, on day one of pre-season Will Maher ruptured his pectoral muscle so he’s going to be out for a while," Crowther told Castleford's official website.

"He’s never injured is Will, he’s never missed any games through injury it’s just a very unfortunate injury on day one.

"The fortunate part is that he’ll be back within three months, so it will take him the full pre-season."

Haverthwaite native Maher is not the only Castleford player to suffer a long-term injury at this stage, with Oliver Holmes set to miss the first month of the 2019 season after returning from England Knights' tour to Papua New Guinea with a shoulder injury.