The exciting young midfield general could be back before the end of the year
Hull City have been given some welcome news after it emerged that midfielder Eliot Matazo had given himself a target of playing next month.
The 23-year-old has not played for City since he damaged his ACL in the defeat at Cardiff City in late February, having undergone surgery a few days later, and had been expected to be sidelined until Christmas.
Matazo, according to boss Sergej Jakirovic, is keen to return to action in November, which would see him back in action ahead of schedule.
The Croatian head coach, however, is a little more cautious about Matazo’s optimism and believes it will be closer to the original plan of Christmas time.
Irrespective, having the former Monaco star edge closer to fitness will be a timely shot in the arm, and mean the club has all three of their ACL victims from last season back and available for selection, with Mo Belloumi and Liam Millar already back with the first team after their long spells out.
“It’s going well, and he promised me he will be back in November, but we’re looking forward,” Jakirovic told Hull Live when asked for the latest on his progress.
“I hope (he will be back next month), but my experience with Mo Belloumi and Liam Miller tells me that it will be in December, if everything is good.”
Jakirovic admits he knows what an influential player Matazo can be, which he just started to show before disaster struck on a damaging winter’s night in South Wales, but has warned about the risks associated with coming back from serious knee injuries.
“Of course, I know that,” he said when it was put to him what a good player the Belgian is before going on to question why there are so many more anterior cruciate ligament injuries in football.
“Right now, ACL injuries are the biggest problem right now in football overall,” he continued. “A lot of players got this injury, and I don’t know why, maybe because of football boots, because of pitches, because of a lot of games, I don’t know.”
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