Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic
Ryan Giles will hope to return to action in the near future(Image: Zach Forster/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic has high hopes of welcoming a number of players back into Championship action over the next couple of weeks.
The Tigers head to Sheffield United this weekend with three points being enough to bolster their bid for a play-off spot at the very least. They’ll be making the journey to South Yorkshire with a similar squad, too, with Jakirovic confirming his players emerged unscathed from Monday’s draw with Coventry City.
However, City could be bolstered by the return of at least one or two faces next week when they take on Birmingham City at the MKM Stadium. That’s because Ryan Giles is on the verge of a return to full fitness, while Yu Hirakawa is also closing on a return after missing the best part of two months with an ankle issue.
The expectation when the Japan international picked up the injury was that he would miss the remainder of the season but he could now be set to return to training as early as next week.
Darko Gyabi, Akin Famewo and Eliot Matazo aren’t too far off a return to action either, with all three training with the first-team squad on Wednesday.
“Maybe next week Ryan Giles will be in the roster, this is the target so we will see,” Jakirovic told the press this afternoon. “Maybe Yu Hirakawa, he is with us but not in the group training yet but maybe he will start from Monday. We will see.”
“Regan Slater is still out, but Darko, Akin and Eliot started to train with us from Wednesday, yesterday.
“This is good news but they’ve had a long time off the pitch and with five rounds left, it’s difficult to put somebody in the team because I have to give the advantage to healthy players who are in form.
“They perform good now for the last two games, especially against Coventry, so there is no need and you never know who will be the next one injured. So it’s good they are back in training and then we will see day by day how they feel and maybe they will get some minutes after in the next games.”