Hull City boss drops squad hint vs Sheffield United as former Blades midfielder ruled out
Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirović will once again be without former Sheffield United midfielder Regan Slater when his team visits Bramall Lane on Saturday afternoon.
Slater, who is a product of United’s academy, has missed each of the Tigers’ last two matches after being forced off with an injury in their 3-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday at the MKM Stadium prior to the international break.
The midfielder was taken off just 31 minutes into the victory over the Owls after taking a heavy kick to his left ankle. He had been nursing an ankle issue for some time and fears have been expressed that Slater, who has played a key role in the Tigers’ unexpected promotion push this season, could miss the rest of the season.
The 26-year-old, who swapped Bramall Lane for the MKM Stadium on a permanent basis in January 2022, had featured in every Championship game this season prior to missing the Tigers’ Easter weekend clashes against Oxford United and Coventry City respectively.
Amid fears he will miss the rest of the season, he has, unsurprisingly, been ruled out of the short trip to South Yorkshire this weekend, but Jakirović has shared more positive news elsewhere on the injury front despite hinting he might select from the same group of players that drew 0-0 with Coventry on Easter Monday.
"Regan Slater is still out, but Darko [Gyabi], Akin [Famewo] and Eliot [Matazo] started to train with us from Wednesday, yesterday,” said the Hull boss, as quoted by Hull Live.
"This is good news but they've had a long time off the pitch and with five rounds left, it's difficult to put somebody in the team because I have to give the advantage to healthy players who are in form.
"They perform good now for the last two games, especially against Coventry, so there is no need and you never know who will be the next one injured. So it's good they are back in training and then we will see day by day how they feel and maybe they will get some minutes after in the next games."
Elsewhere, the trip to Bramall Lane will definitely come too soon for Ryan Giles and Bristol City loanee Yu Hirakawa.
Jakirović added: “Maybe next week Ryan Giles will be in the roster, this is the target so we will see. Maybe Yu Hirakawa, he is with us but not in the group training yet but maybe he will start from Monday. We will see.”
Hull will make the trip to Bramall Lane looking to get back to winning ways in their quest to secure a play-off place. They are currently fifth in the table, four points ahead of seventh-placed Wrexham.