Liam Rosenior has been forced to make further changes for Saturday’s clash between Ashton Gate and Bristol City as the latest injury crisis hits Hull City hard.
Already without Jean Michael Seri, Aaron Connolly, Ryan Woods and Allahyar Sayyadmanesh, the Tigers boss can’t summon Matt Ingram and Dimitrios Pelkas against Nigel Pearson’s Robins either.
Ingram picked up a hamstring at the Etihad in Tuesday’s closed-doors clash with Manchester City, while Pelkas also suffered a problem that is expected to keep him sidelined for a week. Neither was on the flight from Humberside to Bristol on Friday afternoon in what must be seen as another blow to Rosenior.
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Ingram’s enforced absence gives the chance to Karl Darlow, who will make his City debut in what is a huge Wembley weekend for his parent club Newcastle United, while Adama Traore was given a place on the bench. for the first time since he moved to the club. in June of last year.
Malcolm Ebiowei has made a full debut after a couple of cameos off the bench, with him taking Pelkas’ place and there was also a Regan Slater retirement.
Xavier Simons will continue in central midfield alongside Greg Docherty, with Slater on the left and Ozan Tufan on the right facing what now appears to be Rosenior’s first-choice defensive four.
Ingram’s absence sees Thimothee Lo-Tutala named to the bench, along with Traore, Lewie Coyle, Callum Elder, Benjamin Tetteh, Ryan Longman and Tobias Figueiredo.
With Oscar operating as the only striker, Rosenior will once again operate with the 4-2-3-1 formation.
Taking on his former City manager Nigel Pearson, Rosenior says he is relishing the chance to take on him as Tigers boss.
“I have great respect for Nigel. He’s a fantastic man and an exceptional manager. He’s interesting because he brought me here so I have to thank him for that,” Rosenior told Hull Live.
“If you look at where the club went after he left, and I was devastated when he went to Leicester, because I loved playing for him. He was a player manager, and if you did the right things and worked the right way,” . then he would take care of you and have your back.
“I see a team now that they’ve had time to put themselves in their image. It’s a hard-working team, they have a lot of energy and they play with a lot of quality and they’re looking to play football the right way. If you look at the clubs they’ve left, they left an incredible platform for Steve (Bruce) to come and promote us.
“At Leicester, he left an incredible platform for Claudio (Ranieri) to come in and do what he did (win the Premier League title) there.
“He’s a good man and I can’t wait to see him. It’s a fantastic football club, my dad still lives near the area and it’s a club I still have fond memories of.”
“I played up front for them, unbelievably, and if you saw my shots you wouldn’t believe it,” he joked. “It’s a great club and there are still good people that I remember from when I was a kid, but I hope we have a good day when we go there.”
City: Darlow, Greaves, McLoughlin, A Jones, Christie, Simons, Docherty, Ozan, Ebiowei, Slater, Oscar. Substitutes: Lo-Tutala, Coyle, Figueiredo, Elder, Tetteh, Traore, Longman.
Referee: Samuel Barrot
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