Hull City will be without a few key players as they prepare to face Championship title contenders Burnley tonight.
The Tigers have slipped up in their two most recent games against Norwich City and also in controversial fashion to Sunderland after previously going on a three-game winning run. City are in 16th ahead of the clash in East Yorkshire and will look to add their fourth win of the season against Scott Parker’s team.
Walter Forced Into Change
The main headache going into tonight’s match will be the absence of Marvin Mehlem, who started in the loss to The Black Cats. He was brought off the field with 20 minutes to go in the game, with Kasey Palmer replacing him.
The German arrived on Humberside this summer and has already played 11 times for the club, scoring once in a cup clash with Sheffield Wednesday in August. Elsewhere in the squad, Steven Alzate and Carl Rushworth are both out for extended periods.
Positive News Regarding Two
Walter, speaking to the press ahead of the game, revealed that both Abdus Omur and Ryan Longman are nearing returns, with the latter recovering from shoulder surgery. (Quotes via Hull Daily Mail):
“Ryan is getting better. He will have a scan on Monday but hopefully he will be able to join in full contact training next week.
“He will come back stronger like he was before because he works hard and is such a good guy. He is a good player and we need him. I hope he is better than before.”
A win over The Clarets could put Hull as high as ninth by the end of play tonight ahead of fixtures against Derby County and Portsmouth.
Writer’s View
Injuries are common occurrences across a season so it would be expected for these kinds of situations to arise but it is a blow to lose a key player like Marvin Mehlem ahead of a big game like this one against Burnley. He has looked like a great replacement to the outgoing pair of Tyler Morton and Jean-Michel Seri last season amidst what has been a difficult start to the campaign for Hull City. Hopefully for Tigers fans, the German will not be out for too long as he has looked the best of their midfielders so far.
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