Hull City’s first full day in the Turkish sunshine saw the players put through their paces by new head coach Sergej Jakirovic and his coaching staff.
Having arrived on Sunday evening, City’s players had their first full session under the watchful gaze of the Bosnian ahead of their first outing on Turkish soil.
The visiting club from East Yorkshire, who are sharing the facility with Trabzonspor’s women’s team, face Istanbulspor on Tuesday afternoon.
Here’s a look at what we’ve clocked so far…
A calm introduction
Unlike the double sessions in the blazing sunshine of 12 months ago, this was a far more regular, manageable approach. After breakfast, City’s players had their customary gym session and rather than be out in the main heat of the day, a teatime session kicked things off.
About an hour-and-a-half later, the session was done and dusted. Preparations complete for the game on Tuesday afternoon against Istanbulspor, which, by the way, kicks off at the earlier time of 3:30pm, UK time.
Almost a full complement
Pretty much everyone, aside from the injured James Furlong and Eliot Matazo, took part in training. New signings Dillon Phillips and Semi Ajayi were involved, though Reda Laalaoui was there, he didn’t take part.
Trialist Jonjo Shelvey had a good workout, along with the likes of Gustavo Puerta, Steven Alzate, Abu Kamara, John Egan and Sean McLoughlin.
Regan Slater, who missed the final throws of the season with an ankle injury, has been back in full training and has shown no signs of the problem that curtailed his campaign prematurely.
Burstow’s clever finish
Unfortunately for the former Chelsea youngster, the cameras were not rolling when he clipped a lovely finish past Dillon Phillips after a neat touch and turn.
His fine strike even drew big applause from the watching Liam Millar and offered a glimpse of Burstow’s deft touch in front of goal. The pressure is on Burstow, Kyle Joseph and youngster Tyrell Sellars-Fleming this season, given the club’s off-field struggles, so fans will be hoping Burstow hits a purple patch and has one of those special seasons strikers sometimes can have.
Gilo’s back
City’s big summer signing from 12 months ago has been struggling with an ankle ligament injury for the past few weeks, which has meant he’s not been able to train, so this was his first outing.
There was even one of his trademark runs down the left flank before pulling over a good cross, giving Jakirovic an example of the prowess we all know he’s capable of.
Giles’ move to the MKM Stadium hasn’t worked out at all, but they need it to. At this level, the Telford-born left-back can be a huge asset to the Tigers, especially going forward, and it’s down to Jakirovic, coupled with the 25-year-old himself, to find a way of making that happen.
Making positive steps forward
Much is riding on the recovery of Liam Millar and Mohamed Belloumi from their respective ACL injuries. The pair were such big losses last season, but thankfully, the end of their long road back is nigh.
Both were involved in the non-contact aspects of training and continued their work away with the fitness coaches when the main group engaged in contact work, so there’s a little way to go yet, but the signs are encouraging.
Millar, in particular, in such a big part of the group dynamic with his personality, and his being around the group can only be a good thing. Hopefully, it won’t be too long before we see him with a City shirt on his back and impacting Championship games on the pitch.
Getting set
When City booked out the Turkish Football Federation’s premier training facility, they were not aware that the main stadium pitch would be a building site when they arrived.
Having trained – and played on it in their first summer in Riva two years ago, the Tigers had a secondary pitch 12 months ago, but expected they’d return to it this time round. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case, and Tuesday’s game against Istanbulspor will take place at a neighbouring pitch, which is having some hastily erected stands put in place to accommodate the travelling Tigers supporters.
Riva is also preparing for the arrival of the Turkish media on Tuesday afternoon. City owner Acun Ilicali will host a media lunch before chairing a press conference alongside Jared Dublin, Jakirovic and skipper Lewie Coyle, all shortly before the game takes place.
You can watch exclusive behind-the-scenes videos from inside City’s camp right here
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