Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic says his players will return to training on Wednesday as they look ahead to this weekend’s penultimate pre-season friendly in Germany, and hopes that when they do, there will be new faces.
Jakirovic expects to have at least two new arrivals in his squad for the trip to face Eintracht Frankfurt, with a host of deals coming to what City hope will be a positive conclusion.
The Tigers plan to announce the arrivals of Konstantinos Tzolakis and Nobel Mendy early next week, in what will be a boost to Jakirovic’s squad, which has been hit by injuries and absences over the past week.
Tzolakis watched Saturday night’s 1-1 draw with Kasimpasa in Istanbul, before flying back to England on Sunday with the rest of the squad, after their two-week trip came to an end.
Mendy, it’s hoped, will link up with the squad at Cottingham when they return to work on Wednesday once the formalities of his club-record move from Rayo Vallecano have been ironed out.
After two weeks away, City’s players will have Monday and Tuesday at home, before returning to Cottingham on Wednesday, to prepare for the game against Bundesliga opposition, with the squad flying to Frankfurt after training on Friday.
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“I think the trip has been good,” Jakirovic told Hull Live. “Over the twelve days, we did everything that we planned, and the guys were very, very professional. They put a lot of hard work into the pitch, and they gave everything. Our first target here was fitness, and back in Hull, we have to do a lot of tactical principles, which we need to do in some parts of the pitch.
“If somebody new will come, we will try to put him in the squad. Every player who joins us needs time for adaptation, but we don’t have time, really. What is good for me is that all the players that we want to bring are in training sessions with their teams, so this is very good. Before Frankfurt, I expect Tzolakis, I expect Mendy, so we will see, maybe one more, I don’t know, but this is what is very, very close.
“In the next hours, he (Tzolakis) will be our player. Everything is agreed, so I’m expecting him next week in training,” he said of the Greek international, before commenting on Mendy. “I can say 99 per cent, and I hope he will join us this week.”
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