The Tigers were left disappointed with events at the MKM Stadium on Sunday afternoon
Hull City’s game vs Watford was postponed less than 20 minutes before kick-off on Sunday afternoon, in farcical scenes at the MKM Stadium.
Both sets of players had been out warming up on the pitch before a decision was made to call it off, much to the frustration of the supporters who had gathered inside the stadium.
Naturally, City and boss Sergej Jakirovic wanted the match to go ahead but, in truth, as annoying as it is for those supporters who trekked through difficult weather to get to Hull for the game, perhaps it’s not a bad thing in terms of the Tigers’ season, even if the circumstances and timing of the decision leaves a sour taste for those who were either in their seats, or heading into the ground.
The visitors, City, safety staff and match officials, in conjunction with the EFL, deemed the threat to players’ safety too strong to allow the game to go ahead, and a decision was made late.
City looked lethargic and leggy during their 1-0 defeat to Stoke City on New Year’s Day – with their lack of bodies catching up with them – while Watford came into the game on a four-game winning streak.
This postponement gives them more than two weeks between Championship fixtures and, now, the FA Cup tie with Blackburn Rovers next Sunday becomes a handy match to have in the middle of fixtures against Stoke and then Southampton to give players valuable minutes.
By the time these two sides play, yet again, the Tigers will hope their desperately concerning injury situation has eased, given they came into this game without Ryan Giles, Mo Belloumi, John Lundstram and Joe Gelhardt, while Semi Ajayi was away on international duty.
Cody Drameh had been drafted back into the team as cover – and Lewie Coyle was playing at left-back – with other players carrying knocks after a gruelling Christmas period.
Shoehorning an extra game into a busy schedule later on in the season may well pose its own problems, but right now – perhaps in the cold light of day – this may be viewed as a positive to come out of a shambolic situation which should never have been allowed to happen in the first place.
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