Hull City expect to be without Japan midfielder Hidemasa Morita for Saturday’s visit to Arsenal after he picked up an injury in training ahead of the trip to the Emirates.
The 31-year-old has endured a stop-start season so far since arriving at City in the summer, but has impressed in his cameos off the bench in recent weeks as he continued to build up his fitness.
Any hope of securing just a second start of the season this weekend has been squashed with the news that he is set to be sidelined for a couple of weeks with a groin problem.
It’s expected Morita will be fit and available for the Tigers’ first game back after the international break when they host high-flying Brighton and Hove Albion at the MKM Stadium two weeks on Sunday.
Elsewhere, City have some concern over influential forward Mo Belloumi, who has been complaining of a glute issue, though it’s hoped he will be able to train on Friday ahead of the journey to the capital.
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City will certainly be without Matt Crooks, who serves a one-match suspension for picking up his fifth yellow card of the campaign after coming off the bench against Ipswich Town last weekend. The Tigers will still be without Charlie Hughes, Ilias Ansah and midfielder Eliot Matazo.
After being left out of the squad last weekend, both Robinho Vaz and Sorba Thomas are pushing for returns to the squad having trained well this week.
Charlie Hughes continues his comeback and has trained this week, with him pencilled in to play for the Under-21s against Fleetwood Town next week. Ilias Ansah is also progressing steadily, says Jakirovic, who hopes to have him in full training within four weeks.
“Mo Belloumi is OK, Gourna is OK and these players, they are OK,” Jakirovic told Hull Live on the eve of the trip to the capital. “Morita, he will do one more scan. There is a groin and adductor problem. It’s the same leg like last time, just a little bit higher, I think, and we will see. Maybe he will be out for this game, but it’s normal. I expected these problems since he was not with us in pre-season.”
After Saturday’s game, Jakirovic said he wanted to see more in training from the likes of Robinio Vaz and Sorba Thomas, and said he’s been pleased with their response. Vaz, along with Jack Butland, Jens Hjerto-Dahl, Paddy McNair and Christos Mouzakitis, all played for the Under-21s in their 1-0 win over Derby County on Monday night.
“Yes, good,” he said when asked what the response had been. “We also used the Under-21 game. I always expected more from the senior players to make a difference. You see their lack of playing games, and they need more time, and it’s not easy to achieve that in training; you need match fitness. You also need game experience, and this is what we will do in the future, especially with the young players. This week, we were good there, and a little bit of a change of approach and attitude in the training sessions.”
The game will be City’s 200th in the Premier League, and Jakirovic joked that there couldn’t be another easier game in the top flight than going to the home of the Gunners.
“Yeah, very easy game for us,” the Croatian chuckled. “It won’t be so difficult, but no, I’m joking. Joking aside, I’m very proud of the whole club. It’s not a small number, two hundred appearances.
“We know how difficult it is to be in the Premier League, to stay in the Premier League, so it’s very nice for us and the Hull City supporters and the whole club.”
While pleased with much of what City have managed so far on their return to the Premier League, Jakirovic knows his side cannot afford to give away freebies as they have at times already, especially against the Gunners.
“When you watch the game again, you see you can defend better; you can be more solid, more aggressive, especially in the challenge, especially the second goal against Ipswich,” the Croatian explained.
“We could stop this easily. You can make a foul, at least, but we didn’t, and at this level, it’s a goal, so this is also the quality of the opposition players. Especially now against Arsenal, so they are playing very, very good football; no matter Champions League, Premier League, they are very, very strong.
“They control everything, and also they will not allow better teams or us to do much, but you know in football you have a chance. We have prepared something, but obviously they are big favourites, and we will try to create some difficulties for them.”
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