Attention for the Tigers now turns to another triple header
Hull City were moments away from collecting a fourth straight Championship win on Saturday, and to achieve something they hadn’t done since November 2021.
Victory over Charlton Athletic would have also seen the Tigers claim a fifth home success in the opening seven games and match their entire total of last season, but alas, a major lapse in concentration cost them dearly, and Sergej Jakirovic’s men were forced to settle for a point.
The fact that City were so disappointed with dropping two points at home, having won their last three games, is a marker of their progress, but it also shows where they must improve, in seeing games out from positions of strength.
That said, the overriding feeling was one of positivity based on the week that was. An away trip to previously unbeaten Birmingham City, a home, a visit of Leicester City and then Charlton, who were in great form, was far from straightforward, and to have claimed seven points from a possible nine is very good.
“Yes, I will sign immediately if you offer me this before these three games,” the Croatian told Hull Live when it was put to him that, despite the frustration, it had still been a very good week.
And his sentiments are right. Nathan Jones, for his part, took issue with a journalist from South London who suggested beating Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town, and then drawing against City was a ‘solid week’ for the Addicks.
“I think you’re underplaying that,” the Welshman fired back. “To go and beat Sheffield Wednesday, to beat Ipswich Town on the road, and to draw with a flying Hull (City) ain’t solid. I mean, that’s an outstanding week. And considering where we’ve come from, I think you’re underplaying that.
“I suggest that you can be a bit more upbeat about a seven-point week in the Championship because I know I am. If you have seven-point weeks regularly in the Championship, there’s only one place you’re going.”
That’s gone now, and attention turns to the next three-game week, which takes us into the final international break of the calendar year, starting with Saturday’s early kick-off in Norwich and is then closely followed by a trip to Derby County, who have won their last two games, and an inconsistent Portsmouth side at the MKM Stadium.
City’s biggest danger is not the opposition, it’s the lack of availability of their key players. It was a concern at the start of the season, and it’s been a theme throughout it.
Jakirovic has done a wonderful job so far, and he’ll need to summon up all of his experience and motivating abilities to drag his side through the next three games and to the sanctuary of the international break, when he can hopefully take stock of where things are at with his squad, and nurse his key men into what is arguably the most challenging phase of the season in the run-up to Christmas and New Year.
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