Hull City’s goal hero at Portsmouth last weekend Matt Crooks believes there is reason for supporters to be optimistic about the future after their final day survival.
Crooks’ tidy finish at Fratton Park helped City earn the point needed to keep them in the Championship and give them the platform to build on over the summer.
Key to that will be having long-term injury absentees Liam Millar and Mohamed Belloumi back from their respective ACL injuries, while Eliot Matazo will continue his recovery and is expected back later in the year.
Those returns, coupled with some sensible recruitment over the summer, should leave the Tigers in a strong place going into the new season, a feeling backed up by Crooks, who joked about the return of Millar being crucial.
“I knew when I came into this situation in January, it wasn’t going to be easy,” Crooks told Hull Live. “To come down to the final day and have it go down right to the wire, that’s football for you, isn’t it?
“The lads know that this season hasn’t been good enough, but we can start with a clean slate in pre-season, and it’s a real opportunity for us to kick on.
“When I came into the club, I spoke to people within the club who were really ambitious in what they want to do. We want to be competing at the right end of the Championship next season.”
“We need to get (Liam) Millar back. He’s been telling me all these good things he’s been doing,” Crooks joked. “I’m excited to see Liam play. He’s the Canadian Messi by all accounts, so I think when Liam comes back, we’ll be fine!
“But seriously, there’s a good squad in there. We don’t want a repeat of this year. I’m sure, like every club, there will be incomings, outgoings, and we’ll see the state of play when the summer comes.
“A good pre-season is key, get the lads playing together. Go away and have a rest now, do whatever, but when we come together in pre-season, we’ve really got to get to it straight away.”