Hull City boss Nigel Pearson has revealed that he has a few injury headaches ahead of the Tigers’ trip to Norfolk this weekend.
The KC Stadium club have had a disappointing start to life back in the second tier and yet again, the relegation hangover seems to have hit them hard, much like it did to the Canaries in 2005/06.
Hull have also had financial issues to contend with and the KC is not a particularly happy place right now. So for Pearson to have two of his big players potentially missing will come as a big blow, with Jimmy Bullard and Craig Fagan doubts for Saturday’s Carrow Road clash.
That Bullard is still in Humberside is a surprise in itself, with summer moves to Celtic and the Premier League widely touted. But the transfer window came and went and for now, the former England squad member is a Hull player.
But in a boost for Paul Lambert and Co, he could well miss out this weekend, as the Tigers look to improve on a start that has seen them lose all three of their opening away games.
“We’ve got one or two potential problems,” said Pearson, speaking to the Hull City official website today.
“Jimmy’s got a stiff back at the moment, so he won’t be training today. Craig has still got a little bit of trouble in his groin area, so that could be a concern.
“We’ll just have to see how they are going into the game on Saturday. We’ve got two days of training before we play and whichever side starts, it’s about doing what we can to win the game.”
Caleb Folan, who has yet to play this season, is a confirmed absentee for Saturday’s contest but the former Middlesbrough striker has now returned to light training and along with midfielder James Harper, Pearson hopes to be able to call upon their services soon.
Luckily for the Canaries, both former Premier League stars will not be in the starting line-up this weekend.
“It’s been a long injury for Caleb and frustrating both for him and for us. Hopefully he’ll be back sooner rather than later and we’ve missed him for quite a long time now.
“James Harper continues to make good progress, so hopefully we’ll have him back some time in October.”
To compound the misery for Pearson, Kamil Zayatte’s faint hopes of a recall hang in the balance after he saw his comeback game ruined by a groin injury.
The 25-year-old was back in action for the Tigers’ reserves yesterday at North Ferriby but after completing just 26 minutes of a 3-3 draw with Hartlepool, Zayatte looks unlikely to be fit for the trip to East Anglia.
“It was a groin problem and he’ll be assessed by the medical staff back at the training ground,” said reserve team coach Nick Barmby.
“There’s no point taking risks when someone feels their groin, he had to come off. It’s difficult to call at this stage but hopefully it won’t be serious.”
For all the Canary team news, be sure to check MFW tomorrow afternoon when we’ll have all the news and views from Paul Lambert’s pre-match press conference.
What’s the point in having a comments section, if you don’t put up the comments? (It would be better to amend the inaccuracies in your story, rather than just hiding the comments that point them out)
Apologies. I didn’t realise it was a touchy subject and even have a colleague from Hull who often talks about “going back to Humberside”. Officially though, you are correct – it is in the East Riding of Yorkshire.