The Tigers continue to be plagued by injury trouble
Darko Gyabi is another to join the Hull City absentee list(Image: Lindsey Parnaby/Shutterstock)
Hull City have been hit by more injury woe ahead of their return to Championship action at Southampton on Saturday, in what is another major blow to Sergej Jakirovic, with 11 players absent from the game on the South Coast.
Such has been the low number of players on the training pitch this week, City drafted 15 of the Under-21s in to make up the numbers.
Darko Gyabi could be out for the rest of the season with the groin injury that forced him off inside 10 minutes of last Sunday’s penalty shoot-out win over Blackburn Rovers. Though there are no plans for him to undergo surgery at this stage, it is looking increasingly likely that will be the outcome.
Cody Drameh has a quadricep issue and will miss at least the next month, and possibly longer, while Matt Crooks has a similar issue, which saw him miss the FA Cup victory, though he’s expected back for City‘s trip to Preston North End on Tuesday night and could still feature at Southampton.
Semi Ajayi remains absent and won’t return until next week, despite Nigeria suffering more penalty heartbreak, this time in the semi-final of the Africa Cup of Nations on Wednesday night against hosts Morocco.
Enis Destan remains out with a knee injury, and though Eliot Matazo is making good progress in his comeback from an ACL injury, he’s still some way off a first-team return.
There is better news on the horizon involving John Lundstram (knee) and Joe Gelhardt (calf), however, with both primed to return to the squad in time to face Swansea City at the MKM Stadium on Saturday week, with Ryan Giles expected back the following weekend at Blackburn Rovers following his hamstring injury.
It all means Jakirovic will be unable to call upon Semi Ajayi (AFCON), Brandon Williams (calf), Drameh, Gyabi, Crooks, Mo Belloumi (hamstring), Gelhardt, Lundstram, Enis Destan (knee), Giles and Eliot Matazo (knee).
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Crooks and Lundstram could feature at Southampton but will be assessed, more likely won’t be risked. Fifteen Under-21s trained with the first team, so low on number ms are they.