Hull City’s injury troubles, which dogged the Tigers last season and threatened to derail their promotion bid, have not gone away over the summer.
City‘s swinger Mo Belloumi was scheduled to play 30 minutes in Saturday’s pre-season friendly win over Konyaspor, but complained of a tight hamstring, so wasn’t risked, while Charlie Hughes remains unavailable.
Belloumi could yet be passed fit to face Rizespor in Maribor on Tuesday night, providing the tightness he complained of has not turned into anything more sinister, having trained all week fully in Slovenia.
Hughes’ situation is a concern for the Tigers, and it could yet see him miss the start of the season. The powerful defender underwent double hernia surgery at the end of the season, having been playing through the pain barrier for much of the campaign.
Despite beginning the first week of pre-season training as normal, Hughes complained of pain in his lower groin and went to see a specialist on Monday, before joining up with the rest of City’s squad at their team hotel on Tuesday.
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Elsewhere, Abdus Omur had to leave the 3-0 win over Konyaspor early after being kicked, but that’s not expected to cause any lasting damage, while Matty Jacob will be assessed after he felt his groin, and Darko Gyabi also took a kick against an overly physical Super Lig side.
New signing Hidemasa Morita is around 10 days away from being fit to take part in training, after arriving at the club with a slight calf issue, and Matt Targett remains some way off full fitness and continues his own training programme.
“I’m worried because of Belloumi,” Jakirovic told Hull Live after the Tigers’ impressive victory. “He felt something, he said it was stiff in his hamstring, so we have to check this.
“Abdus got a kick and has a thick cut, but I think it’s nothing serious; he will be fine. Matty, also, I think after one corner that he got a kick as well, so we’ll see.”
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