The Tigers face their penultimate game of the regular campaign on Saturday
Hull City were frustrated by the performance of Thomas Kirk at Leicester City on Tuesday night (Image: Stephen White – CameraSport via Getty Images)
Sergej Jakirovic will not be in the dugout on Saturday when Hull City go to Charlton Athletic, desperately searching for a first win in seven games to breathe fresh life into their flagging play-off hopes.
The City head coach was dismissed by referee Thomas Kirk during the 2-2 draw at Leicester City on Tuesday night after his protestations following the second half decision to give the Foxes a penalty which Jordan James slammed in to get the hosts back on terms.
After his dismissal, Jakirovic watched the remainder of the game from the press box at the King Power Stadium, as Oli McBurnie rescued what may yet prove to be a vital point.
Owing to his sending off, Jakirovic will be forced to watch the huge clash at The Valley from the stands, with assistant bosses Dean Holden and Marko Salatovic overseeing matters from the technical area, though Jakirovic will have a direct line to the dugout.
Despite being banned from the touchline, the City head coach will still be able to deliver his pre-match and half-time team talks as normal, and will conduct his media duties.
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It’s the second game this season that the Croatian boss will have watched from the stands. Jakirovic collected three yellow cards earlier in the season, and was banned for the home victory over the Foxes back in October.
Assistant boss Dean Holden, a former Charlton manager, admits it will be a strange feeling occupying the away dugout. “It’s ironic, isn’t it? Incredible football club. It was probably the happiest time I’ve had in my career,” Holden told Hull Live. “It’ll be nice to go back, but hopefully we can take the three points.
“He’ll (Jakirovic) be on the earpiece to Marko, so they’ll be speaking Croatian between themselves. It doesn’t change to me, to be honest, whether I’m the number one or assume the number one, number two, my job remains the same, which is to see the game as calmly as I can, see what’s going on and try to fix the issues.
“Whether I’m standing front and centre or not won’t really matter. I’ve done it enough times. It’s quite ironic going back to The Valley, being in that other dugout, but looking forward to it, yeah, it’s a great club.”
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