Wednesday Oct 05 2005 10:24
Hull City boss Peter Taylor is confident striker Stephen McPhee will be fit to face Southampton after recovering from a hamstring problem.
McPhee has only played four times since his summer move from Portuguese side Beira Mar, with his injury keeping him sidelined since late August.
However, Taylor told the Hull Daily Mail: "We are hoping that Steve will be fit for the Southampton game.
"Of course we'll have to see how he progresses in training this week and next week with a bit of fitness work.
"I wouldn't play him in a reserve game because the work we do in training is similar to a match, so I'm not sure it's a risk I'd take.
"He's trained very well since he's come back and looks in good shape for Southampton."
Ben Burgess, Nick Barmby, Craig Fagan and Chris Brown are also likely to be fit and Taylor added: "I'll be delighted on the day if I have selection problems after the run of injuries we've had.
"I'm positive that if we didn't have the injuries we've got we'd be six points better off than we are now."
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