The 26-year-old Tigers midfielder initially joined City on loan from Sheffield United in September 2020 before the deal was made permanent
Regan Slater is on the cusp of a landmark occasion in his Hull City career, and it’s a credit to his professionalism and dedication that he’s once again become an influential part of Sergej Jakirovic’s starting XI.
If, as expected, Slater starts at QPR on Saturday, he will become the latest player to join City’s illustrious list of players to have played two hundred games in the Black and Amber.
Almost 2,000 days (1,876 to be precise) since he made his Tigers debut behind closed doors in a game with Plymouth Argyle early on in City’s triumphant League One title-winning season, he’s on the cusp of becoming a double centurion.
For Slater, the only suitable way to mark a special occasion will be with three points that would cement the Tigers’ spot inside the Championship’s top six.
It’s a far cry from a year ago when City were struggling at the wrong end of the table, and many players in the dressing room were disillusioned at the club’s direction of travel.
“I joined on loan, and then here I am, a lot of games down the line,” Slater told Hull Live on the eve of the trip to West London. “Personally, it’s a good achievement for me, and hopefully, we take three points from the game.
“I think there’s obviously been a lot of change whilst I’ve been here at this club, but it doesn’t change anything from my side. You just come in every day, work hard, and do the best I can in games when I play. Compared to last year, seeing how low myself was, and how low everyone who was here was, compared to now, it’s been a massive, massive change.
“It’s nice to have a good buzz around the place again and see people actually look forward to coming in to train and looking forward to it.”
City head to Loftus Road looking for a sixth win in the last eight games, and will arrive in the capital fifth in the Championship after a terrific first 15 games, though yet to reach their peak.
Slater admits the Tigers haven’t been at their best yet, and that’s something which, he says, is exciting, but says the spirit in the camp is outstanding.
“If anything, this season, performances probably haven’t been amazing,” he confessed. “We’re kind of first half poor, second half very good. We’re struggling to get 90 minutes together, but I think that shows how good we are mentally, that side of the game.
“That we’re sticking in games. That first half, we’re grinding out, going in at half-time, and we’re not trailing in the game, and then we come back out and we’re putting good performances out to go and win. It’s a credit to us, really, that when we’re not on top of teams, we’re just hanging in there and we’re doing the right things to stay alive.
“It’s probably a compliment to the lads that we are where we are. It’s still early days, there’s a lot of football to be played, but we’re right in amongst it. We’ve got ourselves in a great place and I still think we’ve got loads more to show.”
Naturally, with City’s impressive form, attention has started to be attracted from elsewhere. Oli McBurnie was September’s Player of the Month, while Jakirovic was pipped to Manager of the Month in October by Frank Lampard, and Slater feels the credit is fully warranted.
“Definitely, I think you don’t get the recognition when you’re down at the bottom, so now that we are closer to the top, players are getting the credit they deserve.”
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