Dowell and Zambrano missed out on registration to represent City in the Premier League
Hull City’s Kieran Dowell scored the equaliser at Stoke City on Tuesday night (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)
Sergej Jakirovic has stressed that Kieran Dowell and Oscar Zambrano remain valued members of the Hull City squad, despite being deregistered.
Dowell and Zambrano were two of the five senior players left out of Jakirovic’s 25-man Premier League squad earlier this month with David Akintola, Darko Gyabi and Eliot Matazo completing that list. Gyabi and Matazo remain injured long-term, making that choice a little easier, while Akintola has since left the club to join Cypriot outfit Omonia Nicosia.
Dowell and Zambrano remain with the club though, and with City being knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Sunderland, they will not be able to play first-team football for the Tigers until January at the earliest.
The situation is far from ideal for Jakirovic of course, who would prefer to see the two men playing, either at City or elsewhere, but the head coach will ensure they remain with the group until something changes.
The Croatian has outlined his hope that a loan switch can be found for either man but that looks unlikely at this stage given transfer windows in most countries are closed. Clubs in Saudi Arabia and the UAE are still able to do business and that could well be an option, but if nothing materialises, Dowell and Zambrano, will be left on the sidelines until the new year.
It’s frustrating for Dowell, who joined the club from Rangers in January, but Zambrano only signed for City in the summer after spending last season with Slovenian side Maribor.
“They are still with us,” Jakirovic said when asked what the plan was for the pair. “For me this is a very bad situation because you are training in sessions with us but you are not available.
“They know the situation, I spoke with them and unfortunately just 25 could be registered and that was my decision.
“We will see. Maybe if we can loan them to help the minutes until January it would be perfect.
“They are in training sessions like normal, they are part of the group, but it’s just official games. In the Carabao Cup we could use them and I don’t know the rules about the FA Cup.”