The Tigers face Watford at the MKM Stadium on Sunday looking to bounce back from their defeat to Stoke City
Hull City boss Sergej Jakirovic will make a decision on the fitness of Matty Jacob as he plots a way to halt Watford’s impressive run of recent form.
Jacob is back in the fold at City after his loan spell at Reading was cut short last month because of a knee injury, which he’s recovered from, and could return to the squad after the EFL granted his registration.
Jakirovic is facing something of an unwanted selection dilemma ahead of the Tigers’ final game of a gruelling festive period, with Ryan Giles the latest first-team star to suffer injury.
Giles is set to miss the majority of a busy January owing to the hamstring injury he suffered early on in the win at Middlesbrough, joining Semi Ajayi, Mo Belloumi, John Lundstram, Joe Gelhardt and Eliot Matazo in being unavailable.
Jacob endured an underwhelming stint at Reading but could offer natural balance to the back four, which looked lopsided with centre-back Akin Famewo operating there against Stoke City on New Year’s Day.
James Furlong is also in the fold after he was registered in time to be in the squad against the Potters, though he’s yet to play in the Championship more than two years after joining the club from Brighton.
“We will see because (if Furlong’s at the level needed),” Jakirovic told Hull Live. “We now have Matty Jacob with us. Yesterday he trained with the group in full training, so we will see for Sunday as well. Maybe Matty has more experience than James Furlong, but we will see what can happen. He (Jacobs) can be in the squad on Sunday.”
The Croatian boss has also given an update on Giles, Mo Belloumi, Joe Gelhardt and John Lundstram, as he continues to suffer some bad luck on the injury front.
Belloumi went to London to see a specialist and get a second opinion, but he was deemed as serious as originally thought, though he has declined surgery, which would have seen him sidelined for at least the next four months, in favour of trying to go through rehab and return earlier.
“Four weeks for Gilo, Mo Belloumi, between two and three months. How can you replace Mo Belloumi? I don’t know; it’s very difficult,” Jakirovic continued.
“Even this specialist wants to do surgery, but it’s Mo Belloumi’s choice. If he goes to surgery, there’s a five per cent chance that he will be re-injured. If he goes without surgery, then it’s a 20 per cent possibility that he will get injured again, so he chose the second option.”
Gelhardt, meanwhile, is making good progress in his return from the calf problem he sustained against Boro at the start of December, and remains on track to return later this month.
“He’s good,” Jakirovic said of ‘Joff’. “He was on the pitch yesterday running, and he didn’t hurt anything, so it’s good. We still expect to see him in the middle of January.”
In more positive news, City are hopeful that Lundstram will return to training on Monday and come through the week without any further knee issues so he can feature against Blackburn Rovers on Sunday week. “Our prediction with the medical staff is that he will be ready for the FA Cup. But we will see,” added the Tigers boss.
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