Hull City will be without Semi Ajayi and Nathan Tinsdale for Sunday’s first home game of the season against Oxford United, while skipper Lewie Coyle will not be ready to return.
Ajayi has suffered a hamstring problem in his right leg and is now expected to miss the next month at least, with City taking preventative steps to ensure the problem doesn’t get worse and require surgery.
The Nigerian defender delivered a superb display at Coventry City last weekend but missed the Carabao Cup exit at Wrexham on Tuesday night, but Sergej Jakirovic does at least have Charlie Hughes, John Egan and Akin Famewo to select from.
At this stage, given the difficulties with the EFL, the club are not planning on bringing in cover for Ajayi, but will revisit the situation later on this month before the window closes.
Elsewhere, midfielder Tinsdale has been complaining of a knee issue, so will not be risked, while Coyle is still not yet fit enough to be in contention as he continues to recover from the hamstring problem he picked up during the pre-season training camp in Turkey.
Abu Kamara’s move to Getafe has not yet gone through and he trained with City at Cottingham on Friday. As things stand, Kamara is expected to be in the squad, though boss Sergej Jakirovic admits things can change.
At the time of writing, City were still awaiting clearance from the EFL that winger David Akintola had been registered in time to be on the bench against Gary Rowett’s side.
Fellow summer signing Enis Destan is making good progress from the knee injury he arrived with from Trabzonspor. It’s hoped he will join in training next week and potentially be in the squad for next Saturday’s lunchtime showdown with Blackburn Rovers.
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“He (Coyle) is not with us; he will not be in the squad this weekend and (Nathan) Tinsdale has a problem with his knee so he will not be with us until Monday or Tuesday,” the Bosnian told Hull Live.
“Semi (Ajayi) is out for at least four weeks. He has one problem with the hamstring, so we will see how he develops. It’s better because if we continue like this for one game, then one stop, he could need surgery in the end, so it’s not good.
“It’s very hard for him. It’s hard for the team, especially in this first game. He played very, very well. We have John Egan, we have Charlie (Hughes) and Akin Famewo, but Akin was not with us in pre-season, so it’s difficult for him as well.
“We need bodies there. Now, the luck is that we are playing one game per week. This is lucky, but after the international break, we will need every player.
“Today’s training session (no other concerns), everything was OK, but after Saturday Semi was also OK. Everything was good, then he had the scan and bang, we had a problem.”
Attacker Destan has not yet been seen in a City shirt, though that could change by next weekend with the Tigers boss delivering an encouraging prognosis.
“It’s not so much painful when he kicks the ball, but I think next week he will join us in group training,” he said. “We will see what condition he’s in. He will need some time for sure to adapt, but he’s a good lad, so he’s quality, so we’ll see how he adapts.”
On young left-back James Furlong, who hasn’t featured all summer, Jakirovic added: “He’s in the warm-ups with us and then goes to training individually so he’s not yet with us.”
Speaking about Kamara, the City boss admits the winger is waiting to find out when a deal with Getafe has been struck, but for now, he has been training as normal and is likely to be involved against the U’s.
He said: “He’s with us training as normal, so I’m counting on him for Sunday. Today is Friday, and we have Saturday, so we will see. Everything is possible, but I’m satisfied with Abu. I asked him, “Comistas, how are you? Is everything OK?” He’s waiting as well, so we’ll see.
“It’s 50/50 (that he wants to stay), but it’s not just a player, it’s agents, parents, this, that, so who will fight with this? We will see, and at the end it’s a club decision.”