Brian McDermott responds to potential changes at Leeds Rhinos

Hetherington reacted to the Rhinos' record 66-10 Super League defeat at Castleford last Thursday by sending an open letter to fans hinting that the next four fixtures, starting with the visit of Catalans Dragons to Headingley on Friday, will have a crucial bearing on the club's future.

The Leeds boss stood steadfastly by McDermott throughout their turbulent season in 2016 when they finished outside the top eight and were forced to battle against relegation from Super League, but he told fans that we are not stubborn enough to believe no change is always the best option''.

Hetherington appeared to suggest that McDermott has four matches to save his job but the coach told a news conference at Headingley on Thursday that he was in full agreement with the letter.

*Something needed to be said after such an ugly day*,'' McDermott said.It was a club letter and I'm keen to stress that Gary rang me up and cleared that letter with me.

The decisions that we make will be made as a group. We need to stand up to be counted and bear the brunt of last Thursday. I'm cool with what he said, I've no dramas with anything that was said.''

McDermott added: I think what the club are saying is that we aren't going to change after just one game, we're not going to do it because we've had a really ugly day at the office.

Those days at Cas are never down to one thing. They are usually a combination of a few things and the biggest factor was that Cas were white hot, although we shouldn't be conceding 66 points.

Friday is a big game, the next three or four big. We want to be in position in the league where we're challenging at the top.''

McDermott admitted it had been a difficult week after the 12-try mauling by the Tigers.

It was that bad a day, we just needed to play the day after, so it's been a really long, tough week for all of us,'' he said.

You have got to go through a process and the process this week has been a tough one because the footage we've been looking at has not been particularly good footage.

There is an element of a psychological battle this week but the players have never shirked that responsibility.''

McDermott is able to welcome back second rower Carl Ablett from suspension and scrum-half Rob Burrow from illness for the game against the Dragons.

Burrow takes over from Jordan Lilley, who was recalled at short notice from his loan spell at Bradford to play in last Thursday's game but will not be in Friday's team.