The Tigers return to action at Loftus Road on Saturday to kick off a busy festive period
Few people associated with Hull City would have predicted the Tigers to be sitting fifth in the Championship after 15 games of the season, especially given the turbulent summer.
City sit there on merit. It’s no fluke, nobody’s done them any favours, nor have they played a flurry of games more than anyone else in the league.
Sergej Jakirovic’s side deserves to be fifth. They’ve played some wonderful football, and only Coventry City have scored more than their 24 goals. Both the Tigers and Sky Blues have been the great entertainers in the opening three months of another captivating Championship season.
The Tigers have also collected plenty of plaudits for the way they’ve gone about their work, especially given the base Jakirovic was working from when he arrived, inheriting a squad that survived on the final day of last season, and were the lowest scorers in the league with the worst home record in the league.
Throw into the mix that the club were banned from buying any players in the summer, and saw deals for a host of players collapse because of those restrictions placed on them by the EFL, you can see why there’s such excitement buzzing around the MKM Stadium and beyond.
In summary, it’s been a start to the season that few could have expected. Nobody outside of East Yorkshire gave City much of a prayer of staying up, let alone competing for a place at the top end of the division.
They’ve started incredibly well, but now the real work starts in many ways. The festive period generally sorts out the wheat from the chaff. Those who claim to have a chance and those who really do.
Between now and the break for the FA Cup over the weekend of January 10/11, Jakirovic’s men will play 11 games with 33 points up for grabs. In that period, City play four of those in and around them.
They’ll play Stoke City and Middlesbrough home and away in that spell, as well as going to Millwall and Ipswich Town will visit the MKM Stadium, while there’s a tantalising Boxing Day showdown at Hillsborough against Sheffield Wednesday to look forward to, and safely navigate.
City are a different beast this season. They have a strong squad, and one that will hopefully be even stronger over the next couple of weeks, but they must not ease off.
The open nature of this season’s Championship means they have a unique opportunity to go on and achieve something memorable, something few expected to be possible.
Their start has been truly stunning, but it will count for little if they don’t build on it and keep their foot to the floor. There’s absolutely no reason why that can’t happen, but with three games coming this week, starting at QPR on Saturday and ending at Stoke City next Saturday lunchtime with the visit of Ipswich in between, they must hit the ground running and grasp the opportunity they’ve given themselves.
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