City return to action on Friday in what will be a crucial Easter weekend in the play-off race
Paddy McNair’s World Cup dream with Northern Ireland was ended in Bergamo last Thursday(Image: Sportinfoto/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images)
Hull City expect Paddy McNair and Semi Ajayi to both be available to face Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium on Good Friday, despite returning to the club with injury worries.
Neither McNair nor Ajayi featured in their final international games of the March break, owing to slight concerns, but it’s understood both trained at Cottingham on Tuesday and are set to travel to Oxfordshire on Thursday evening for a crucial game at the start of the pivotal Easter weekend.
McNair played in last Thursday’s 2-0 defeat to Italy in the World Cup play-off semi-final and was released from the Northern Ireland camp ahead of Tuesday’s 1-1 friendly draw with Wales in Cardiff, which saw Lewis Koumas start and play 64 minutes in a game few wanted after the disappointment of their play-off defeats.
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Ajayi flew back from Turkey having missed Nigeria’s 2-2 friendly draw with Jordan in Antalya, though he did play 46 minutes in the 2-1 defeat of Iran on Friday.
Elsewhere, Liam Millar played 76 minutes in Canada’s 0-0 draw with Tunisia in Toronto, while Ivor Pandur was again an unsued subsitite for Croatia’s late 3-1 loss to Brazil in Orlando overnight. Both of those will be assessed when they return to England after lengthy flights back across the Atlantic.
The big winner throughout the final international break was Amir Hadziahmetovic. The Bosnian midfielder came off the bench to score in the shootout win over Wales last Thursday night, and played the final minutes of extra time against Italy in Zenica on Tuesday.
Unlike against Wales, Hadziahmetovic wasn’t needed to take a penalty with Bosnia beating Italy 4-1 on spot-kicks to seal their place at the World Cup for just the second time in their history. Hadziahmetovic will face Liam Millar this summer, with Bosnia joining the hosts in Group B alongside Switzerland and Qatar.
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