City will move into the Championship’s top six this evening with a positive result at Pride Park
Ryan Giles has been fundamental to Hull City’s stunning season so far, which has seen Sergej Jakirovic’s men firmly entrenched inside the top 10, but he says the Tigers’ players are keeping their feet firmly on the ground.
Saturday’s 2-0 win at Norwich City was their fourth in the last six games and ended a 15-year wait for a win in Norfolk. The win moved the Tigers up to seventh in the Championship, remaining outside the top six on goal difference.
City now head to the East Midlands to take on a Derby County side who have found good form in the past three games, having collected nine points, including an eye-catching 3-1 win at Sheffield United on Saturday.
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Despite their great season so far, Giles says nobody is taking anything for granted, especially given the relentless nature of the Championship, and what it can throw up game-to-game.
“It’s important, it’s still early days, there’s no hiding away from that, but I’ve got big belief in the group, I think the staff and the manager have come in and done a brilliant job. We just have to keep ticking them off, not get carried away,” he told Hull Live.
“Right now, in my opinion, the table’s absolutely irrelevant. We just have to keep going game by game and keep ticking them off. We just have to have that sort of mentality that if we can’t win, just don’t lose. Let’s try to take something from every game, and if we do that, especially with the home form we’ve shown already, you never know.
“After the international break the Christmas period’s pretty heavy, but if we can sit around this sort of mark now, you’re well in the race. With the injuries that we’ve got, if we get everybody fit and we’re in that race, it’s something to be excited about.”
This season’s Championship is wide open, and while Coventry City are out in front at the top, defeats for them and second-placed Middlesbrough over the weekend has seen the chasing pack close in.
Unlike in previous seasons, there are no relegated Premier League clubs in the top eight at this stage of the season, with Ipswich Town the closest challengers down in ninth, though they do have a game in hand. Both Leicester City and Southampton are further down the table, having lost their last three, and their respective managers are under growing pressure.
Giles admits the parachute payment club’s struggles have caught him by surprise, though he says it’s important the Tigers take full advantage, as they already have done by beating both Southampton and Leicester.
“At first, I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect it,” he confessed. “I thought the clubs that had come down would probably take off, but it’s wide open.
“Coventry are doing well, Middlesbrough are doing well. I think other than that, really, everyone’s fighting away. If we can just stick around that pack, get through these games into the international break, and then we’ve got a massive run through the Christmas period.
“If we can stick around where we are now, then with the players that we’ve got coming back fit as well, then, like I say, I think it’s something to be really excited about.
“The boys that have come down (from the Premier League) are not at the height probably where they wanna be, so I think you’ve got to take advantage of that.”
A positive result at Pride Park on Tuesday would see City move into the top six, for 24 hours at least, but after claiming a big win on Saturday, the Tigers will go there in positive mood with the aim of coming away with something to keep their momentum going.
“Just keep ticking them off, I think it’s so important. Honestly, I don’t think you need to get too carried away at the table; you face whatever you’re facing in your next game. You’re gonna go away from home and probably have to suffer at times.
“If you can go away against a good side and get a point, and then play a home game and get a win, it’s a great return. That’s just important. We’ve got the players down there, I think that the club have recruited really well with that, and a lot of experience. We’ve sort of got that mentality at the moment of like, if we can’t win, let’s not lose, sort of thing, but we’re finding a way.”
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