City will lose one of their key men for a period later this month when the Africa Cup of Nations begins
Hull City have been given the green light to keep Semi Ajayi longer than was originally planned, after FIFA stepped in ahead of the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations.
City had originally expected to lose Ajayi after Wednesday night’s visit of Wrexham to the MKM Stadium, and held discussions with bosses at the Nigerian FA in a bid to extend his stay to include the trip to Millwall on Saturday week.
That decision was taken out of their hands after FIFA decided to sanction the departure of players up to December 15, meaning Ajayi will play at The Den before linking up with Fulham’s Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey and Samuel Chukwueze to travel to the tournament in Morocco.
Nigeria, who were beaten in the final of the previous AFCON by Jean Michael Seri’s Ivory Coast, kick off their campaign on December 23 against Tanzania.
The Super Eagles are under pressure to deliver at the tournament, after failing to qualify for the World Cup next summer in the US, Canada and Mexico. Ajayi missed a crucial penalty in their play-off defeat to DR Congo.
Boss Sergej Jakirovic says he plans to use Ajayi as much as possible in the next three games, after his Man of the Match display in the win at Stoke City last weekend, which saw the defender net his first Tigers goal.
In Ajayi’s absence, Jakirovic will have John Egan, Akin Famewo and fit-again Charlie Hughes as his central defensive cover, along with youngster Cathal McCarthy.
“He will be here until the Millwall game, then after the Millwall game he will go to AFCON,” Jakirovic told Hull Live. “There are some players from Fulham, and they are all going together. This is good news for us.
“They must be there by December 15, so we have him for two days more. It’s good, and we must use him as much as we can because then Millwall, we have three options plus Cathal McCarthy”
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