Hull V Leicester at The KCOM Stadium : Match Preview

12 August 2016 15:34
Hull V Leicester - view commentary, squad, and statistics of the game live.


Unlucky Hull have just 13 players available to face Leicester

Caretaker manager Mike Phelan has just 13 fit senior players to choose from ahead of the Tigers' season-opener against Leicester at the KCOM Stadium.

Allan McGregor (back), Alex Bruce (Achilles), Moses Odubajo (knee) and Michael Dawson (knee) are all on the long-term injury list while Harry Maguire is a couple of weeks away from full fitness.

Jake Livermore is set to be asked to step in alongside Curtis Davies in central defence while winger Shaun Maloney has been passed fit.

Phelan has admitted that Hull's threadbare squad is not yet in a position to compete at a Premier League standard.

The Tigers have been beset by problems during a tumultuous pre-season, highlighted by Steve Bruce's exit as boss, no new signings and the aforementioned injuries, leaving Phelan to pick up the pieces as he looks to press his own claims to take over the manager's position on a full-time basis.

Asked if he had a squad capable of competing with the champions, Phelan said: "I would say no, simply because of the injuries - and the injuries are not short term.

"Most of them are longer term than we expected.

"It's a small squad, but small squads before have worked well together.

"There definitely need to be additions to this football club."

Leicester start the defence of their Premier League title without the suspended Robert Huth.

The defender is banned after his three-match sanction for tangling with Manchester United's Marouane Fellaini at the end of last season.

Matty James is available after missing the whole of last season's title-winning campaign with a knee injury while record signing Ahmed Musa could make his debut after joining from CSKA Moscow for B#16million.

New boys Luis Hernandez, Bartosz Kapustka, Ron-Robert Zieler and Papy Mendy are also in the squad but Ritchie de Laet and Gokhan Inler will not be included having been told they can find new clubs.

Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri believes it is more likely that aliens will land in London than that the Foxes will defend their Premier League title.

The Italian expects Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City to mount strong challenges after they all faltered last season.

Leicester upset the odds to win the title by a runaway 10 points last season, after they were 5,000-1 to triumph at the beginning of the campaign.

But Ranieri, who signed a new contract until 2020 on Wednesday, has already dismissed their chances of retaining the title and believes extraterrestrials arriving in the capital is more likely.

"It's easier for ET to come to Piccadilly Circus," he said. "I work to be safe and continue to build a team, anything more that happens is fantastic.

"It is normal that we can't win the league. For this reason I say the bookmakers must do 6,000-1.

"It is impossible. It is more difficult than last season.

"Of course they (Leicester's title rivals) are stronger because they can't make a mistake another year.

"They lost one season and in the life of those big teams that can happen but, altogether, it only happens once in a lifetime.

"I am very curious, all the world is curious, what will happen with Leicester. I am very curious to see where we finish.

"Of course the big teams are ready to fight for the title, we are ready to defend our title but we know it is a difficult gap, last season we made something unbelievable.

"But now the big teams will come back, I am sure."


Source: PAR