City are looking to enjoy cup success for the first time in five years
Hull City’s starting XI at Wrexham will have changes from the side that drew on Saturday in Coventry(Image: Will Cooper/Shutterstock)
Hull City boss Sergej Jakirovic is set to make changes to his side for Tuesday night’s starting XI for the Tigers’ Carabao Cup first round tie at Wrexham. City’s opening day draw at Coventry City saw Jakirovic bring in Semi Ajayi and Joel Ndala from the start before Oliiver McBurnie and Joe Gelhardt came off the bench in the latter stages.
The Bosnian could be tempted to hand much-needed minutes to goalkeeper Dillon Philips and Akin Famewo, but the game will come too soon for Lewie Coyle, who continues his recovery from a hamstring problem picked up in pre-season. Brandon Williams and David Akintola’s moves have not yet been ratified, so they will not feature, but the City boss will name a strong team in North Wales, with him keen to get the Tigers into the hat for the second round for the first time in five years and continue the momentum built up in recent weeks.
It’s expected that Joe Gelhardt will start as one of the four or five changes, while there could be an opening for Nathan Tinsdale after coming off the bench on Saturday. Oli McBurnie had the best part of 30 minutes in the Midlands with the amount of added time, but in his first appearance since the end of May, the Scotsman may not be risked from the start.
Ryan Giles and Cody Drameh are both likely to start at full-back, given the lack of other options there, but in the middle of defence, John Egan will come in for Semi Ajayi, who will be left behind in East Yorkshire over a minor hamstring complaint, with no risks taken on him.
Given that Ivor Pandur is the club’s number one goalkeeper, Jakirovic will also hand Dillon Phillips a debut in a competitive game for the first time and a chance to impress.
Elsewhere, Jakirovic will be keen to find the balance between giving valuable minutes to players that need them, but also ensuring the team is as competitive as possible. He will also know that he has the benefit of an extra day’s rest with the Tigers not playing Oxford United until Sunday afternoon, followed by a clear week leading into the Blackburn Rovers contest the following Saturday.
City’s predicted starting XI: Phillips, Giles, Famewo, Egan, Drameh, Slater, Crooks, Tinsdale, Palmer, Gelhardt, Kamara
Have your say on what the starting XI should be using the slider below….