The Tigers have seven games in the next 21 days
Hull City’s attention now turn to the Championship promotion race after their FA Cup run was ended by Chelsea(Image: Andrew Kearns – CameraSport via Getty Images)
Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic has issued a rallying cry ahead of the Tigers’ final 15 games of the Championship season, which begins on Saturday.
City have not won in their last two Championship games, having won the previous four and were well beaten by a strong Chelsea team in the FA Cup last Friday night.
The Tigers now turn their sole attention back to the league campaign, which sees them sit fifth in the table, albeit with a game in hand against three of the four teams above them at fourth-placed Ipswich Town next month.
QPR are first up this weekend, before Derby County, who are a place below City, arrive in East Yorkshire on Tuesday. City then go to Portsmouth and Ipswich, followed by Millwall, Wrexham and West Brom.
After that manic run of games, the Tigers will then have a clear week before they host bottom side, Sheffield Wednesday, before the final international break of the season, and then the busy Easter weekend.
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Those seven games see the Tigers face four of the teams directly around them in the table, but with a six-point cushion to the chasing pack, City remain in a terrific position, and Jakirovic says his players are fighting for everything.
You have to believe that you can play against everyone,” he said. “If we play like this (for the rest of the season), we will have no worries. It’s about mindset. We must continue like this.
“The fans believe in us, and they see that we are giving everything in every game. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s less good, but we are fighting there. Now we have 15 games, and I hope we will reach those positions that we’re dreaming about.”
Despite a heavy defeat against the Blues, City still showed their potential with chances at both the start and end of the game, something which the Croatian believes is there, though he admits the prospect of facing that level of quality regularly next season is too far in the distance to comprehend just yet.
“If you create some difficulties against Chelsea, there is potential for something, but it’s too far away from this position because there are still 15 games to go. If we will get into the Premier League, then we will think about it.”
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