City now have a two-week break before the return to action at St Andrew’s later this month
Sergej Jakirovic will give some of his players a significant amount of time off over the course of the international break, as he looks forward to a busy spell later this month.
City brought the curtain down on their opening nine league games on Saturday with a fine 1-0 win over Sheffield United, thanks to David Akintola’s first Tigers goal, coupled with a late penalty save from Ivor Pandur.
While a host of players will jet off on international duty over the next few days, those who remain in England will be given a combination of time off, individual training plans and a normal schedule until Thursday, when they’ll have a few days off before normal preparation resumes for the next block of games.
The Tigers face Birmingham City, Leicester City, Charlton Athletic, Norwich City, Derby County and Portsmouth before the November break, and Jakirovic is keen to ensure his players are fully rested for a busy period of six matches in three weeks.
Akin Famewo, Brandon Williams, Darko Gyabi and Enis Destan are expected to get valuable minutes on Tuesday afternoon when City’s Under-21s play Coventry City at the CBS Arena.
Jaikirovic himself will head back to Croatia to attend to some personal matters before returning to prepare for the clash with Birmingham City at St Andrew’s when Championship football resumes for the Tigers on October 18.
“Some players will be given seven days off, some with individual programmes,” the Croatian said. “Some players will play on Tuesday at Coventry in the Under-21s, and some players will train till Thursday.
“We will try to send Famewo, Darko and Destan (as well as Williams). This is all the players who missed the pre-season, and they don’t have the minutes, so it’s very, very important for them and for us as well. I’m going home. I have some issues to deal with. It’s not serious, but I have a lot of work to do. It’s not a vacation, I’m working too.”
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