The Tigers have lost one of their top summer signings to what looks to be a lay-off
Hull City have been left sweating on the fitness of defender Semi Ajayi after the defender tweaked a hamstring following the draw with Coventry City on Saturday. Ajayi missed the dramatic penalty defeat at Wrexham on Tuesday night as City threw away a two-goal lead going into added time to draw 3-3 before losing on penalties to exit the Carabao Cup.
The Nigerian international will have a scan on Wednesday, but it’s likely he will be out for a period of time, with Jakirovic confirming the prognosis was not good.
“Tomorrow (Wednesday) we will see, it’s not good,” the City boss said of Ajayi, who saw his campaign last term at West Brom plagued by hamstring injury trouble.
“It’s not good. I think he will miss some games, but we will see after the scan tomorrow. This was also our plan to get Akin (Famewo) on the pitch, and we also have John Egan and Charlie Hughes.”
On the game in North Wales, which saw City come from a goal down to lead 3-1 thanks to goals from Oli McBurnie, Joel Ndala and Matt Crooks, only for Ollie Palmer to score twice inside a minute during stoppage time to send the game to penalties.
Ndala’s kick hit the bar and Jack Marriott scored the winning penalty to send Wrexham into the second round, and leave City to face up to another first-round exit.
“It’s a mixed feeling. I think that we played a very, very good game until 80 minutes, 85,” the Bosnian told Hull Live. “We controlled everything, but this is a great experience for us for the future because it has put somewhere in our minds that it’s not finished until the referee blows the last whistle.
“It’s a great experience and we must continue because I think that we showed a lot of good things in our game and play. I’m sorry for the players because they put everything into the game. Their performance was very, very good, and in the end, congratulations to Wrexham; we keep going.”
Jakirovic was also supportive of Ndala, who missed the vital spot-kick when his effort cannoned back off the woodwork. Prior to that, the Manchester City youngster had delivered an electric display and scored to put the Tigers 2-1 up.
“It’s very difficult for him,” he said of the 19-year-old. “He’s a very young player, but I think he will be a very good player, so he has a very big potential.
“He’s able one against one, easy one against two, he scored the goal, he shot a good penalty, but hit the crossbar, and I think it’s the first of many (goals). You know, who never missed a penalty? He who never shot. This is football.”
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