CASTLEFORD Tigers are targeting Sunday's home Super League clash against the Giants (3.30) as the match to kick-start their campaign.

The Tigers are four points adrift at the foot of the table, with one win from their opening 18 top-flight fixtures.

But head coach Gary Mercer admitted in the build-up to last Friday's clash at leaders Leeds Rhinos that he was looking to some of the games that followed as a golden opportunity to pick up points.

Castleford still have to meet fellow strugglers Widnes twice and are also targeting maximum points from the home games against the Giants and Salford.

"At the back of my mind, I'm looking at these games as target games," admitted New Zealander Mercer.

"There are still more than enough games coming up to guarantee our Super League survival."

Mercer's positive attitude is backed up by Tigers star and former Fartown half-back Brad Davis, who remains confident the Tigers will escape relegation.

The 36-year-old Davis, 36, who played his first game for the Tigers three weeks ago, will now assist coach Mercer off the field, after the departure of Consultant Coach Ellery Hanley a fortnight ago.

``I'm still very confident of being able to escape the drop, but we need to start building some performances," said Davis.

"Confidence comes with defence, and that's an area where we are letting ourselves down at the moment.

"We got into some excellent attacking positions against Leeds on Friday night, but we are guilty of panicking a bit.

"You have to put pressure on with kicks, and that is something we failed to do.

"I still have a lot of confidence, but we players really do have to start taking responsibility for the mistakes we make out on the field."

The Tigers will, of course, be boosted by the debut of big prop Mark Tookey from the New Zealand Warriors.

And there is more good news from The Jungle, with the Tigers successfully extending Luke Robinson's loan period from Wigan until the end of the season.

This should provide the stability required at half-back following the return of Davis.

The two have formed a good understanding in recent weeks and the big hope throughout The Jungle is that this platform can now be built on to provide some positive results.