The Tigers face Matt Bloomfield’s men, knowing three points are crucial in their play-off quest
Hull City’s John Lundstram is pushing for a return to the starting XI(Image: Cody Froggatt/PA Wire)
Hull City will return to action on Good Friday with seven games left to secure a place in the Championship’s play-offs, or better. They’ll kick that run off against struggling Oxford United.
Boss Sergej Jakirovic will hope that Ivor Pandur and Liam Millar are fit to play, despite returning from the USA and Canada respectively on Thursday, while it’s expected that Semi Ajayi and Paddy McNair will be involved despite returning from international duty before midweek games.
City‘s squad will be boosted by the return to fitness of skipper Lewie Coyle, while Charlie Hughes is available again after serving a one-match suspension.
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In keeping with the season so far, the Tigers’ 3-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday last time out came at a cost with influential midfielder Regan Slater suffering an ankle injury that will keep him sidelined for another month or so.
Slater’s absence, as unfortunate as it is, hands an opportunity to John Lundstram, who replaced him against the Owls, and Amir Hadziahmetovic, who has found himself out of the starting line-up in recent games.
Coyle will likely come back into the side on the left side of defence with Cody Drameh keeping his place on the right, though Paddy McNair delivered a fine display in the win over the stricken Owls and would be deserving of his start.
Jakirovic will want more control from his midfield than he’s seen at times, recently, so he may opt to push Crooks further forward rather than have him operate in the engine room, which could open up the possibility to have Lundstram and Amir in the centre of the park, though the Bosnian might need a bit of extra time to recover from the celebrations after Bosnia’s famous win over Italy to qualify for the World Cup.
Further up the pitch, Jakirovic will be loath to change too much with Kyle Joseph delivering a Man of the Match performance against the Owls, and will surely have added incentive against his former club to impress and add to his goals tally.
City’s predicted XI: Pandur, Coyle, Hughes, McNair, Drameh, Amir, Lundstram, Crooks, Gelhardt, Joseph, McBurnie.
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