City’s squad will have a few fresh faces heading to Wembley
Hull City’s Babajide David Akintola is part of the Hull City squad heading to Wembley(Image: PA Wire/PA Images)
Hull City will have Cody Drameh and Amir Hadziahmetovic available for Saturday’s play-off final against Middlesbrough at Wembley Stadium.
The pair have been out injured and have missed the final weeks of the season, as well as the play-off win over Millwall. The Tigers squad will also be boosted by the availability of David Akintola, who has been approved to be involved by the EFL after he replaced the injured Eliot Matazo in City’s squad.
As Hull Live reported previously, Kyle Joseph will not be available after sustaining an ankle injury in the second leg at The Den. Joseph has since had surgery on his ankle, which is the opposite one to what he had operated on last summer, and is set to return in pre-season.
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Joseph will join Eliot Matazo in being sidelined for the showpiece final, while Toby Collyer has returned to Manchester United for treatment on his ankle injury, though he’s expected to join the rest of City‘s squad at the national stadium.
“He had surgery on Monday,” Jakirovic told Hull Live. “Everything went well, and now he’s out for 10 weeks, and I hope he will be good for pre-season, or at least some part of pre-season.
“It’s the opposite ankle to the one he had operated on last summer. He decided to have surgery because, previously, on his other ankle, he hadn’t done that, and then he had problems. This is the reason why he decided to do the operation.
“They (Amir and Drameh) are back in training, and they are in good condition, which is also very important. We have more options now, so they will be in the squad, and we will see. Toby (Collyer) is back with Man United in injury protocols, so he’s done for this season.”
Jakirovic now has as many options available to him as he has at any point all season, and with the inclusion of Akintola, there will be players sat in the stands, something Jakirovic admits he will have to manage carefully. “We will take what is necessary for this game. We have a few options for our Plan A and Plan B.”
The Tigers boss also spoke at the conclusion of the spygate saga, which saw Southampton expelled and Boro given their place in Saturday’s final, despite losing the second 2-1 at St Mary’s.
“For sure, it is a relief because since Tuesday, we now know who we are playing,” the Tigers chief continued. “We prepared for seven days to play Southampton because they won the final. Maybe it is a bit short (the build-up for Boro), but we have played them twice, and we know them, and they know us.”
“It’s not up to me what happens. The best idea is to automatically promote Hull,” Jakirovic then joked about what he thought should have been the outcome. “It is not a question for me, what would be the best scenario. Our focus was on Southampton, so from Tuesday it changed, and that means it’s been short.
“But we had one good session tactically, and tomorrow (Friday) we will decide who is in the first XI, and hopefully we will have a good performance. The players are fully focused on the final. It is a 50/50 game no matter who is the opponent.
“I’m very happy the game is Saturday. My first question was will they postpone, because 12 days until the final is already too long. They have to change this. Two times play in three days, and then 12 days off, they can change this. For two days, we had celebrations as a team, then we trained, had a weekend off, and since Monday, it has been a normal week. We will see on Saturday how well we have prepared. We want to show the football we have played this season.”
Jakirovic was also unsure about the psychological impact on Kim Hellberg’s players having been out of the play-offs, and then thrown back in at the last minute. “It is hard because you switch off, and then you must switch on. It is not easy to prepare like that for this type of game.”
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