The Tigers have plenty to be excited about despite worrying injury situation
Hull City’s dressing room spirit has been a big feature of this season (Image: Alex Dodd – CameraSport via Getty Images)
It should have been a week of celebration for Hull City, after Sergej Jakirovic’s team won a first FA Cup game in six years to set up a mouth-watering fourth round meeting with Chelsea.
Not just Chelsea, from the Premier League, but Chelsea now managed by Liam Rosenior. Son of the city, and the club’s former manager, in what will be billed as one of the ties of the round.
That would be too easy, and instead of revelling in a rare cup victory of any kind, the backdrop is once again the topic of injuries and the ongoing troubles. Jakirovic described his week as a disaster, and you can have nothing but sympathy for him
Darko Gyabi limped out of the shootout win over Blackburn Rovers after 10 minutes. His groin injury needs surgery, and he could be out for the season. Matt Crooks couldn’t play on Sunday and is a doubt for Southampton.
John Lundstram isn’t yet back, nor is Joe Gelhardt. Ryan Giles won’t return until the end of the month. Mo Belloumi’s hamstring injury may see him miss the rest of the season, and the hopes we had of seeing Eliot Matazo by the end of January or early next month have been dashed.
Throw in the fact that Semi Ajayi is away in Morocco with Nigeria preparing for the game nobody ever wants to play in – the third and fourth placed play-off at the Africa Cup of Nations.
All in all, the Tigers are without 11 players this weekend, and while that will hopefully improve come Tuesday night at Deepdale and again at the MKM Stadium against Swansea City, Jakirovic’s squad is threadbare.
This isn’t a hard-luck story or a case of getting excuses in. These are players who would be starting on Saturday afternoon, and in some cases, the form players in the whole league. That level of absence would hurt anyone.
Fifteen Under-21 players trained with what was left of the first team ahead of the trip to the South Coast, highlighting what a nightmare it is for Jakirovic, who still manages to make a joke about it. Gallows humour and all that.
The odds are against City, but they have been all season. Nobody gave them a chance at the start of the season, and they’ve been in the top six for the majority of the campaign.
Whenever they’ve been doubted, Jakirovic’s players have responded. After every setback, they’ve shown their character and resilience.
At Boro, already without a flurry of key players, the league’s best left-back, Ryan Giles, limped off inside five minutes. City scored a few minutes later, shut up shop and won the game. They didn’t need the ball and were content to be difficult to beat and keep Boro at arm’s length.
Southampton will have all the ball at St Mary’s, just as they did at the MKM in September. City controlled the game without the ball then, and were deserved winners.
It can happen again. They might be down to the bare bones; they may be without some of the Championship’s best and most in-form performers, but nobody should write off Jakirovic and his players.
They’ve impressed us all season with their grit, their determination and resiliency whilst showing obvious quality and an impressive ability to win games of football.
City are in the race for promotion because they deserve to be, and while a growing injury list is a major worry, it’s not a reason to write them off.
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