Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic says he expects new signing Hidemasa Morita to be available in the next 10 days, after the Japan international arrived with a calf problem.
Hidemasa arrived at City‘s team hotel in Maribor on Friday and was with the squad on Saturday for their opening pre-season friendly of the summer.
He watched the Tigers destroy Super Lig side Konyaspor 3-0 at the Aluminij Sports Park in Kidričevo, and will work on his fitness when the players return to training on Monday, ahead of Tuesday’s contest with Rizespor.
“Three weeks ago, he had a calf injury,” Jakirovic told Hull Live. “I think it will be another 10 days away from the pitch for him. He’s having medical treatment, and we will try to increase his fitness, and then he will join us.”
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Understandably, there was a great deal of excitement surrounding his arrival, given his obvious pedigree playing for Japan and in the Champions League with Sporting.
“He’s a very good player. He’s used to playing on a high level, especially with Sporting and the Japanese national team,” the Croatian head coach explained. “He has 40 national team appearances, and he’s capable of playing under pressure. We need this creativity, he’s a good solution on the ball, can play on the ball, so I think he can improve us a lot in the midfield.”
Another new signing, Matt Targett, wasn’t involved on Saturday and has only been taking part in certain bits of the training sessions in Maribor over the past week since arriving with the rest of the squad, having missed the start of pre-season training.
Jakirovic says he’ll keep working on his programme with the club’s fitness coaches in a bid to get him up to speed with the rest of the group.
“Matt has an individual program and we’re trying to keep him healthy,” he explained. “Right now he’s far away from our players, but he’s improving every day, so I hope he will be soon on the pitch.”
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