The Tigers completed deals for six players on transfer deadline day, taking their new player count to 18
Sergej Jakirovic and Dean Holden have enjoyed a perfect start to life in the Premier League(Image: Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)
Hull City might have signed a remarkable six players on transfer deadline day, but the new recruits are already aware that they face a battle just to get into the team.
That’s according to the assistant manager Dean Holden, who has been talking about the Tigers’ busy end to the summer transfer window amid a whirlwind start to life back in the top flight.
Having reached the Premier League unexpectedly via the play-offs, Hull have been widely tipped for a straight return to the Championship at the end of the season, but Sergej Jakirović’s side have made a mockery of that prediction early doors, winning their first two matches, including an opening day victory against Manchester United, in what has been a perfect start to the season.
The Tigers are under no illusions that they needed to strengthen further to survive in the English top-flight, and that has been borne out in the shape of 18 new signings over the course of the summer. Six of those arrived this week, with deadline-day deals completed for Ilyas Ansah, Robinio Vaz, Brooke Norton-Cuffy, Tim Iroegbunam, Sorba Thomas and Christos Mouzakitis.
But after charging out of the blocks, Holden knows that any changes to the starting line-up will have to be incremental.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “There’s a real great spirit in the dressing room so we just want to make sure that with the new guys, we can integrate them as quickly as we can.
“It’s giving us sleepless nights at the moment. In fairness, when you look at the league games we’ve had, I think in the first game there was only three new signings in that team, so eight lads that got us there from last season. Similar on Saturday at Coventry. It will just be about integrating them.
“A lot of the players we’ve brought in are either not up to speed or they’ve got little niggles and haven’t had much of a pre-season. Sergej is very much around the healthy ones, as he called them, and the ones that are doing the business.
“The good thing for us is we’ve had such a good start that these new guys coming in, as good as they are, they know they have to battle just to get in the starting XI because of the way the team has started.”
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After securing back-to-back wins against United and Coventry City, Hull now face Europa League champions Aston Villa at home, before tough away trips to Sunderland in the Carabao Cup and Chelsea in the league four days later. Holden agreed that the run of games will give him and Jakirović the chance to learn more about the new players they have at their disposal.
“I think so,” he said. “Certainly that Sunderland Tuesday game. We have Villa on Saturday night then Sunderland on Tuesday and Chelsea away. That’s a lot to take in.
“Last year we got used to it with the amount of midweek games and going into the play-off final on the back of spygate, we had 48 hours to prepare for Middlesbrough after having 10 days looking at Southampton, so we’re used to that. What we’re not used to as a staff and a group is preparing for three-game weeks at this level.
“You’re looking at the managers, the tactics that will change on the day and in game, that’s the fascinating thing for us and it will be real test for us, for sure.”
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