The Tigers have one more game to get through to avoid losing a key man – against promotion rivals Middlesbrough
Hull City head into Friday night’s MKM Stadium showdown against promotion rivals Middlesbrough with just one player facing the prospect of a one-match ban.
City‘s clash with Boro under the lights is the 19th game of the season and is the cut-off for five bookings, meaning any players who don’t reach that total by the end of the game will not face a suspension.
From game number 20, which is the visit of Wrexham next Wednesday evening, the threshold rises to 10, which runs through until the end of the 39th game of the campaign. For Sergej Jakirovic’s men, as it stands, that’s their home meeting with Sheffield Wednesday, currently scheduled for March 21.
Should any player then reach 10 bookings by that point in the Spring, the immediate punishment would rise to a two-game suspension.
The Tigers have just John Lundstram sitting nervously on four bookings, and he is the only player at risk of sitting out the game against Phil Parkinson’s men next midweek.
Lundstram only returned to the Tigers squad on Saturday at Stoke City after a nine-game absence, and was booked after their 2-1 win by referee Leigh Doughty for his part in the post-match squabble that will see both clubs in hot water with the FA.
Both sets of players and staff clashed, while a fan attempted to get onto the pitch and seemingly confront Lundstram, who was given his fourth booking of the campaign.
The likes of Enis Destan, Joe Gelhardt, Oli McBurnie, Regan Slater, Ivor Pandur, Kyle Joseph and Ryan Giles are all one back on three bookings, and not at immediate risk of a suspension.
So far, the only City player to serve a suspension was Matt Crooks, who picked up his fifth booking in stoppage time of the defeat at QPR and sat out the home loss to Ipswich Town last Tuesday. Crooks then picked up a booking at the bet365 Stadium and is now perched on six cautions, four away from a two-game ban.
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