Two of the Championship’s in-form teams face off at Pride Park
Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic is keen for his side to find their energy as attention now turns to tonight’s trip to Pride Park for a clash with Derby County.
City will arrive at Pride Park on the back of Saturday’s impressive 2-0 win at Norwich City and will be on the hunt for a third consecutive away win, after beating Birmingham City last month.
Their trip to the East Midlands is their second in a busy three-game week ahead of the international break, with Portsmouth the visitors to the MKM Stadium on Saturday to round off a period of six games in the space of 21 days.
The Tigers will arrive in the East Midlands without a host of first-team players, including Oli McBurnie, John Lundstram, Liam Millar, Mo Belloumi and ex-Ram Kasey Palmer.
Brandon Williams is expected to come back into the squad, but there will also be academy players who make up the Pride Park bench to bolster gaps left by those senior players who are unavailable until later in the month, and beyond.
“Yes, (it’s been the perfect start to the week). I don’t have doubts because we have 14 senior players, so we will see how our recovery goes and then we will see who will who will play against Derby. We will try to find energy and prepare something for Tuesday.”
One player key to their hopes of winning at Pride Park will be Joe Gelhardt. The on-loan Leeds United ace has netted four goals in his last four games, and the manager is delighted to have him, even if he does have a slight ankle issue going into the game.
“We are very lucky and we are very happy because we have Joff. Since he arrived, his attitude, approach, he likes Hull City, you see that, and I’m very happy because of him because his statistics are fantastic,” the Croatian said, “He’s very dangerous in the midfield, as a number 10 or as a right winger. He has a huge impact on our play.”
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