Jakupovic happy that Hull’s fate is in their own hands

REMINDERS of Hull City’s perilous position in the Premier League may be everywhere but Eldin Jakupovic insists he feels under no pressure.

The Tigers are fourth bottom with six games remaining, two points ahead of Swansea City in the final relegation spot.

With Middlesbrough and Sunderland looking doomed, the scrap to avoid joining the duo in next season’s Championship is shaping up to be a straight fight between Marco Silva’s men and the Swans.

Jakupovic, installed as Hull’s first-choice goalkeeper soon after Silva’s arrival in early January, said: “If you read newspapers, it doesn’t matter if its Swiss or German, you see the table everywhere. You cannot ignore it. But I do not feel the pressure.

“Of course, after a game it is the first thing you want to know. Last Saturday (after losing 3-1 at Manchester City), we asked: ‘What was the score between West Ham and Swansea?’ Nothing had changed for us (due to Swansea losing) so we just keep going.”

Hull head to Stoke City on Saturday as Swansea head to Watford. A week later, the Tigers host Watford as the Welsh club welcome Stoke to the Liberty Stadium.

The run-in then sees both relegation rivals face bottom club Sunderland and there seems certain to be a few more twists and turns in the fight to avoid the drop.

Asked about the pressure that accompanies a run-in, Jakupovic said: “I cannot speak about other players, I can only speak about myself, but I don’t feel the pressure.

“I do the game and then switch everything off. My only focus during the game is doing my best to take three points.

“Everything is in our hands now. If we win every game and Swansea win every game, it will be us who stay up.

“Let’s be positive. Nothing has changed for us. We had two big home games against West Ham and Middlesbrough and we got the maximum points. We tried to sneak something out of Manchester City but we move on to the Stoke game.”

City’s trip to Crystal Palace has been put back a day to Sunday May 14 to be shown live on Sky Sports with a noon kick-off.

Sam Allardyce’s side gave their own survival hopes a major lift by beating Arsenal on Monday and the Eagles sit six points clear of Swansea and four ahead of Hull. The 16th-placed Londoners also have a game in hand on the two sides directly below them.