Stroud has started all three league games for the Tigers so far this season
Elliot Stroud in action against Man Utd(Image: Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
Sergej Jakirovic is pleased with what he’s seen from Elliot Stroud so far this season as he acclimatises to life as a Hull City player.
Stroud joined the club from Swedish club Mjallby during pre-season after representing Sweden in the World Cup over the summer, and the 24-year-old has featured heavily for Jakirovic so far this season.
He started City’s Premier League opener against Manchester United, playing as a left winger ahead of Ryan Giles and that is the position he has held down so far. The Swede’s willingness to track back and prevent overloads on City’s left is an obvious benefit and his defensive mindset was hammered home on Tuesday night when he came off the bench to replace Matt Targett at left-back.
Stroud’s ability to cover the yards and help out those behind him makes him a favourite to start once more over Sorba Thomas this week as City try to stifle the threat caused by Pedro Neto and Jakirovic has given his verdict on what he has seen so far from the summer addition.
“What is interesting about Elliot is he didn’t have one day break since January,” Jakirovic said. “I realised this yesterday.
“The Swedish league is a March to December season. So he played for six months and then he went to the World Cup. Then, he came back and played for Mjallby in the Champions League qualification and then joined us.
“It’s ups and downs but we know what he can do. We’re using him on the left wing and he is also left wingback which is good if there’s something we need to change there.
“I think he gives a lot of effort there. He is a runner and we will try to use him every game. We have Sorba Thomas there as well which is good. We have good two options in this position.
“He can play left wingback or left winger, it depends which system we play.”