The Tigers now have their final international break until March and will go into it in great spirit
Hull City’s players will once again be given time off over the next week as Sergej Jakirovic looks to rest weary legs after a busy spell of games since the last international break.
City went into the final international window until late March with a battling 3-2 win over Portsmouth in front of a near-capacity crowd at the MKM Stadium, which saw the Tigers rise to fifth in the Championship before the head coach headed to the airport bound for Zagreb.
When the players are all back together, they’ll prepare for the first of 11 games in the remainder of November and through the busy Christmas period and into the New Year before FA Cup third round weekend around January 10.
A host of senior players will be given much of the week off and told to stay away from the training ground and enjoy some time with their family and friends, while others will continue their recovery from injury, and Jakirovic will return to Croatia to spend some time with his family after guiding the Tigers into the top six.
Last month, there were a number of key performers who went away with their respective counties, but both Liam Millar and Kasey Palmer will remain in East Yorkshire as they nurse injuries.
Semi Ajayi, Joel Ndala and John Egan will all head off on international duty, along with fit-again Harry Vaughan and Cathal McCarthy, who face England with the Irish Under-21s.
Boss Jakirovic will look to give some of his senior players minutes with the Under-21s playing Barnsley at North Ferriby and Sheffield United at Bramall Lane during the break. Akin Famewo and Darko Gyabi are expected to take on Barnsley on Tuesday, though Mo Belloumi won’t feature.
“I’m very pleased and I don’t want to see anyone for seven days, so it’s also for me, a little bit of a relief (to have the break). The national team players are going away, and I hope they will have some appearances; they will come back healthy.
“The same (as before). We are splitting the players into three groups,” he explained when asked what his plan was. “The players with the full minutes who have played all the time will get a vacation with four home training sessions.
“Some players will play for the Under-21s, and some players will train until Thursday, and then after November 17 (Monday), we will all be back together again (to prepare as normal for QPR).
“I’m going home for a little bit of rest because this is the last international break we have until March. It’s a lot of work to do and a lot of games, but we’ll be ready for everything.”
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