The Canadian wing wizard has jetted off on international duty
Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic says the Canada boss Jesse Marsch and his medical staff will be acutely aware of Liam Millar’s road to recovery, as he links up with the national squad for the first time this year.
Millar made his long-awaited comeback against former club Preston North End last Tuesday night in what was his first outing after recovering from a knee ligament injury picked up in the draw with Burnley last October, before playing another half-hour in the win over Sheffield United on Saturday.
The 26-year-old winger was immediately called up by Marsch for games with Australia (Saturday) and Colombia (Wednesday) in Montreal and New Jersey, respectively, as the CMNT build towards next summer’s World Cup, which Millar hopes to be a part of.
Provided he doesn’t pick up a follow-up injury after almost a year out, building up his minutes for his country could be a major benefit to Millar and City, ahead of a block of six games in three weeks between the October and November international breaks, kicking off at Birmingham City on Saturday week.
“You cannot stop him (from going so early),” the Croatian told Hull Live. “This is by FIFA rules, and he’s also buzzing to join them. It’s because of the World Cup, and I completely understand this.
“It’s not easy to play in the World Cup, so I hope everything will be fine. We sent one email to their fitness coach. They know everything about his conditions, and I hope everything will be good. He feels fine. I feel fine, so everything is good.”
Jakirovic hopes that Millar will get on the pitch and get some valuable minutes that will help speed up his recovery and ensure he’s ready for more gametime when he returns to Tigers’ action later this month.
“Normally, my opinion is that when they’re going, they play something. If they are 10 days there without any minutes (that’s a problem). Training sessions with the national teams are nothing like ours, just 2k or 3k of running, which is nothing, so at least you have some minutes in the official games.”
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