City host the Blues in front of the television cameras on Friday night
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Mandatory Credit: Photo by Alex Dodd/Shutterstock (16487681cm)
Hull City’s Charlie Hughes in action
Blackburn Rovers v Hull City, Sky Bet Championship, Football, Ewood Park, Blackburn, UK – 31 Jan 2026(Image: Alex Dodd/Shutterstock)
Hull City’s squad will be boosted by the return of Yu Hirakawa for Friday night’s FA Cup meeting with Chelsea at the MKM Stadium after he missed the Championship defeat to Bristol City.
The Japan international was forced to watch from the stands as City were beaten 3-2 by Gerhard Struber’s side on Saturday, under the terms of his agreement with the Ashton Gate club.
Hirakawa is eligible for the FA Cup clash despite playing for the Robins in Round Three, after the rules were changed at the beginning of the season to allow players to compete for two clubs in the competition in the same season.
Under previous rules, Hirakawa would have been considered cup-tied and therefore, would have been forced to sit that game out, too, but his return hands Sergej Jakirovic a timely boost.
City’s squad could also see the return of Cody Drameh after a nine-game absence with a quad injury. Drameh hasn’t actually played a minute since the 2-0 home loss to Ipswich Town in late November and came close to leaving the club in January, before suffering from his injury. Drameh’s timely return offers Jakirovic the chance to freshen up things on the right side of his defence against the Blues.
Elsewhere, Eliot Matazo is edging closer to a long-awaited return from injury. The Belgian midfielder has not played since damaging his ACL in the loss at Cardiff City in late February last year.
Matazo is back in light training, and it’s hoped he could make a return to the first team picture next month. That’s later than it was hoped, but the midfielder has suffered some setbacks in his recovery, which have delayed his comeback. Matt Crooks, Mo Belloumi, Darko Gyabi and Semi Ajayi remain sidelined and are unavailable.
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