Sergej Jakirovic has explained that Sorba Thomas and Robinio Vaz were both left out of Hull City’s squad against Ipswich Town because he felt their levels needed to be higher in training.
Vaz, who scored a penalty for the Tigers’ Under-21s against Manchester United last Monday, is not fit enough, according to Jakirovic, after a truncated pre-season, and wasn’t involved on Saturday.
Thomas had been a regular in the City side following his move from Stoke City on transfer deadline day, but hasn’t played since starting the 1-0 loss at Fulham two weeks ago.
The Tigers drew 2-2 with the Tractor Boys after fighting back from a goal down at the break following a desperately poor first half, and at one point, led, only to be pegged back and forced to settle for a fifth draw of the season.
Vaz will be among a strong contingent of first-team players that will appear for the Tigers’ Under-21s on Monday night when they host Derby County at the MKM Stadium, with the City boss keen to see the Roma loanee improve his fitness.
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“They need to train much better,” Jakirovic told Hull Live. “Especially Vaz; he has to improve his match fitness. This is the reason why he will play on Monday. He will play for the Under-21s against Derby at the MKM Stadium, which is an excellent environment, motivation, everything. Christos (Mouzakitis), Jens (Hjerto-Dahl) and Paddy (McNair).
“They will all play this game. Jack Butland will play, too. Another thing is the team sheet; we can only name 20 players on it, so I have to choose somebody, and this is my decision.”
Vaz endured a tough pre-season in Italy and only made the move to England late in the window, so the club’s fitness staff will continue to try and help him get up to speed so he can compete for a place in the first team, but Jakirovic admits it’s not a shock to see him finding it difficult to get to grips with the pace of the games.
“No, I’m not surprised because he (Vaz) missed pre-season,” the Croatian continued, before saying players like Thomas must fight for their spot.
“We have Elliot (Stroud), we have (Mohamed) Ali Cho, we have Joffy (Joe Gelhardt),” he explained. “It’s about efficiency; it’s about contribution because when you look back, Sorba Thomas has played six games since he joined us. Four of those have been starts, and two he came in from the bench. There are players who didn’t play even one minute, so you have to fight for your place, and that’s it.”
Charlie Hughes will step up his return to training on Monday, though it’s understood he’s not yet ready to be involved in the Under-21s and therefore will not play against the Rams.
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