The Tigers midfielder knows the importance of Saturday’s Yorkshire derby
Amir Hadziahmetovic in action for Hull City at The Hawthorns(Image: MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Amir Hadziahmetovic admits all the pressure will be on Hull City when they host already-relegated Sheffield Wednesday at the MKM Stadium on Saturday.
The Tigers are in need of a response after last weekend’s shock 3-0 loss at West Brom, which has seen their play-off place weakened in the past few days after successive wins for in-form Southampton cut the gap to just three points.
Wednesday are bottom and have won just once all season, with that coming at Portsmouth back in September. Henrik Pederson’s beleagued Owls have claimed just one point in the last 45, but gave City a bloody nose on Boxing Day in S6 when they held the Tigers to a deserved 2-2 draw.
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Given City are on the hunt for a 20th win of the campaign and 10th at home, against a side already down, the hosts will be expected to deliver a performance and result in response to last weekend’s hammer-blow.
That game during the festive period sticks in the memory of the Bosnian international, who admits to being impressed with the way in which Wednesday played, despite all their trials and tribulations this season, both on and off the pitch.
Hadziahmetovic knows City must perform at a much higher level in front of their own supporters than they did at The Hawthorns, but says having a free midweek for the first time in a month has been a blessing, and one he hopes to take advantage of with three points.
“The last few weeks have been really, really tough physically,” the Bosnian told Hull Live. “It’s good to have a week to prepare for the game, to rest a bit and to get more days to prepare for the next game. I think we had a good week, and we prepared really well for the game on Saturday.
“It’s nice to have a restful week, especially in this league, because you have so many games, you cannot think much about the last game. You don’t have time to think about the last game, so it’s good that we had a week to reset mentally and get ready for the next one.
“Everybody expects us to win the game, so this is what makes it difficult. We need to be prepared one hundred per cent, get ready for a tough game because they have some really good players, young players. If we are at our best, we will win, but we need to really be careful and do our best on this day.
“I remember that they were a team that tried to play football. They weren’t a classic, let’s say, Championship team that plays long balls and fights. Of course, they fight, but they were trying to play football with many young players. They impressed me. I thought that we were gonna take the three points there, but unfortunately, we didn’t. The game could go on both ways; we could win, they could win, so in the end, maybe a draw was a realistic result.”
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