City face the bottom three in their next three league games
Hull City manager Sergej Jakirovic has warned his players not to take West Brom lightly (Image: Cody Froggatt/PA Wire)
Sergej Jakirovic admits playing a West Brom side who are under a third manager of the season poses a different type of challenge, and says his Hull City must earn the right to get anything.
Albion have endured a nightmare season and sit inside the bottom three after conceding a 91st minute equalsier against Southampton on Wednesday night, denying them a first league win since the end of December.
Ex-City midfielder Ryan Mason and Eric Ramsay have both been sacked, with former Baggies star James Morrison placed in temporary charge, tasked with keeping Albion in the Championship.
Back-to-back draws at Sheffield United and then at home to the Saints are a step in the right direction, but Jakirovic is under no illusions about the difficult task ahead for his promotion-chasing Tigers.
Having played the other three play-off teams in their last three games, culminating in that fine success in Wrexham on Tuesday night, City now face the bottom three in their next three, starting with Albion on Saturday.
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“For me, it’s the same game,” the Croatian told Hull Live. “I expect a difficult game, a demanding game because every one of these teams is fighting for something.
“Except Sheffield Wednesday, of course, but I know that everybody counted on it being an easy three points, but we already had the experience that they took two points off us on Boxing Day.
“We are preparing normally like always, and we will try to use their minuses. It’s really tricky this game now, West Brom, because he’s (James Morrison) already the third coach there.
“God knows their style. Of course, we watched their last three games, as they watched us. They are very compact, very vertical, good set pieces, long throw-ins, good crowd, very loud and a good pitch, which we are looking forward to because our pitch is not in such good condition.
“We will try to take something there, but there are no guarantees now that we are playing against West Brom. They’re fighting for their life, I can say it like this. Nobody expected West Brom to be at the bottom of the table before this season, one hundred per cent. They have quality.
“I saw they played 4-4-2, they’re very compact, not too much space between the lines, so we’ll see. When Ryan Mason was there, I liked how they played, how they performed. Maybe they had a lack of results, and maybe it was a mistake, I don’t know. I’m not the board.
City just scraped past Albion in their final outing before Christmas, courtesy of an Oli McBurnie penalty and that game remains in Jakirovic’s mind.
“In the home game when we won 1-0, we had a lot of problems with them,” the Tigers chief admitted. “They created a few very good chances, and it was a tricky game. I’m expecting a difficult game as well. We are now in the play-offs, and they are relegation battle; there is no guarantee we will come there and take something. You must deserve everything on the pitch, and we must perform even better than on Tuesday.”
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