Sergej Jakirovic has been handed some timely news amid his injury crisis
Joe Gelhardt is close to his Hull City return(Image: Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
Hull City could welcome back Joe Gelhardt when they go to Preston North End on Tuesday evening after the forward recovered from a calf injury.
The ten-goal star hasn’t played since going off in the second half of the 4-1 defeat at home to Middlesbrough on December 5, but it’s understood Gelhardt has been back in training and is set to be involved in some capacity at Deepdale.
It was expected that the Leeds United loanee would not return until Saturday’s clash with Swansea City at the MKM Stadium; however, Hull Live understands he could return after an eight-game absence to bolster City‘s attacking ranks.
Gelhardt’s return is a major boost to Sergej Jakirovic, with the news coming on the back of Saturday’s 2-1 win at Southampton, which moved the club back into the top six after their first league win in 2026, thanks to first-half goals from Kyle Joseph and Charlie Hughes.
Boss Sergej Jakirovic, however, will hope Akin Famewo (quad), Kyle Joseph and skipper Lewie Coyle (hamstring) are available after all three were taken off as precautions during the win at St Mary’s.
Famewo was withdrawn at half-time with concerns over a quad issue and was replaced by Cathal McCarthy, while goalscorer Joseph had taken a flurry of kicks. Coyle felt his hamstring, and with little cover on his side, was withdrawn.
City will also hope to have new signing Yu Hirakawa in the squad to tackle North End, who were beaten 1-0 at home by Derby County on Saturday, while Toby Collyer’s move from Manchester United is also set to be ratified before the trek to Lancashire.
Ryan Giles is nearing a return but is not expected to feature until the Tigers go to Ewood Park on January 31 to tackle Blackburn Rovers, and Semi Ajayi will be assessed when he returns to Hull after limping out of Nigeria’s penalty shoot-out victory over Egypt in the third-placed game at the Africa Cup of Nations with a calf issue, but that isn’t thought to be serious at this stage.
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