City’s Croatian number one cannot wait to walk out in Tigers’ colours at Wembley Stadium
Hull City goalkeeper Ivor Pandur can’t wait for his Wembley debut(Image: lfie Cosgrove/News Images/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Goalkeeper Ivor Pandur says the Hull City training ground has been a joyous place since the Tigers sealed their place in the Championship play-off final at Wembley.
Pandur played a significant part in keeping two clean sheets in the semi-final against Millwall, to help City set up their shootout for a place in the Premier League with Middlesbrough, after they were reinstated in sensational fashion on Tuesday evening.
After a remarkable season which saw Sergej Jakirovic’s side claim sixth place on the final day of the Championship campaign, the Tigers are now just one game away from the Premier League, which would fulfil a lifelong dream for the Croatian, who has just been called up to his country’s World Cup squad.
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“It’s been brilliant,” reflected the Tigers’ number one in conversation with Hull Live. “I think we are all excited for what’s about to happen. We played quite good games in the play-offs, and we are in the final. There are all smiles all around the training ground in the city, and yeah, it’s been good. We have one final job to do.”
The build-up to the final this Saturday has been sadly overshadowed by Southampton’s spying charges, which came before their first leg draw with Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium earlier this month, with the disciplinary hearing deciding to kick out Southampton and replace them with Boro. The game could yet be postponed amid frustrating uncertainty.
Pandur, though, says full concentration from the staff and players at City has been on preparing for the game this weekend, and not the ongoing noise outside.
“I personally have no idea, even my family and my friends, they would keep asking me questions, who are you playing against and this sort of stuff, which I don’t know,” he continued, “We cannot really control the other things if they do this or that. It’s not really where our focus is. We just need to focus on the plan to win the game.”
Pandur admits he sympathises with the 33,000 or so City fans who have already paid for tickets, organised travel and accommodation, with uncertainty remaining around whether or not the game will go ahead. As it stands, the game remains scheduled for Saturday, though the kick-off time could change, while Southampton’s appeal will be heard on Wednesday as the drama continues.
“I can imagine for the fans as well, they want it to be set in stone that it’s played on that date, at that time against that opponent, which I get, especially the first few days after they played each other, everything is up in the air, and you don’t know what’s going to happen,” he continued.
“For us, it didn’t change anything; we continued training, and we continued preparing for Southampton, so that’s what we are going to continue to do.
“They’ve (the fans) been brilliant the whole season, but especially the last couple of games in the play-offs and before that, I think they gave us so much energy. They deserve a game of this magnitude. I’m also happy for them because I believe that we are going to have an amazing day throughout the whole day.”
The Tigers’ stopper can’t wait to walk out at England’s national stadium in front of a capacity crowd, which will include his family and friends.
“I’m really excited,” he beamed. “I heard stories about Wembley all my childhood and watched a lot of games there, whether it be cup finals, England playing there. I know it’s a lovely place where dreams are possible to achieve. I’m beyond excited and grateful to have this opportunity to share this with my teammates, with the fans, with my family, so happy days.”
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