TIGERSPREVIEW Ability to balance City squad could hold the key to Championship safety
MCCANN KNOWS HE MUST JUGGLE HIS RESOURCES TO GET BEST RESULTS
Before a ball was kicked ahead of the Championship season’s resumption last month, Grant Mccann made it clear every member of his Hull City squad would be called upon in one last dash towards the finishing post. Eighteen players have since been used to start the Tigers’ four league games and the rising intensity of the run-in means there is every chance Mccann’s prediction will come to pass.
Tonight’s trip to Bristol City is the third Championship game inside seven days and this demanding run has only just begun.
Home games against Millwall and Luton Town on consecutive Saturdays sandwich a trip to Wigan Athletic next Tuesday before the season finally concludes away to Cardiff City in less than a fortnight.
Every squad in the Championship is facing the same demands down this year’s drawnout final straight but the breathless schedule gives Mccann much to consider on the short flight to Bristol airport.
Mccann, in truth, has already carefully managed his squad to this point.
Only George Long, Jordy de Wijs, Matthew Pennington and Mallik Wilks have started all four games since lockdown and the increase of three subs to five has allowed Mccann to limit the work-loads asked of his midfield and attacking players. Nineteen of the 20 subs permitted have been used to this point.
Only Herbie Kane, ruled out of a reunion with his boyhood club tonight, has become a casualty of City’s schedule with a seasonending hamstring injury but Mccann’s planning will inevitably have one eye on the visit of Millwall this weekend.
One change will be a given tonight as Callum Elder returns at left-back after serving the six-day concussion protocol for the 4-2 loss at West Brom on Sunday.
That would facilitate Leo da Silva Lopes’ return to midfield but there are decisions to make for Ashton Gate.
Can Jon Toral start a second game inside four days?
Only once in the last 26 months has the
Spaniard managed that in a City shirt and the busy performance of George Honeyman in defeat to West Brom makes Toral’s potential omission that little bit easier.
Dan Batty, who dropped to the bench at the Hawthorns, is another with fresher legs.
The suspicion is that he will start either tonight against Bristol City or on Saturday against Millwall.
Perhaps the biggest dilemma facing Mccann is who to start wide left at Ashton Gate. Wilks’ form has made him undroppable at present but on the opposite flank there has been missed opportunities.
James Scott at home to Middlesbrough and then Martin Samuelsen away to West Brom were both withdrawn at half-time after making very little impact.
Keane Lewis-potter was the beneficiary on both occasions and there is a case to suggest his pace and enthusiasm make him worthy of a starting chance. Of the 19 players used by Mccann in the last four games, Lewis-potter remains the only one not to have started.
Tom Eaves can also count himself unfortunate to have watched so much from the sidelines. The big striker started against Charlton but it has since been Josh Magennis leading the line.
Might a fourth start in 12 games be too much for Magennis? A fifth in 15 certainly could be but Mccann has used the Northern Ireland international sensibly, withdrawing him each time in the second half.
Legs will be tiring down this final straight and City’s survival might just depend on getting the balance just right in the next seven days.