Club

Press Conference | Nathan Jones pre Hull City (A)

Manager Nathan Jones feels his side are in a ‘good position’ following the conclusion of the international break, with an almost fully fit squad to choose from on Friday night against Hull City.

til7clxxgfwoq5xi1kis6yjhpsqpjtt8-1664375143872.png

Following a two-week break from Championship matches, the Hatters conclude their September schedule with a trip to the MKM Stadium where they could move into the play-off places with a victory.

With three points against Blackburn Rovers last time out, the boss is confident that with a boosted squad, his players can deliver once again.

“We’re in a good position," Jones said during his pre-match press conference. "We’ve had a good couple of weeks leading into the international break, so we want to come out of it strong.”

Alfie Doughty featured in last week’s Development Squad match but is in a better position after a period back on the training pitch.

“He didn’t need as much. We trained him hard, and we feel that Alfie is ahead of the others in terms of game readiness, so he’s fully fit.”

Three first-team players did, however, get valuable minutes for the Under 21 side last night, including Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu who is continuing his return to fitness.

“We had Pelly, we had (Luke) Berry and we had (Louie) Watson who all had a good run-out. It was a good game against a young and athletic QPR side, so we’re delighted. Pelly has had two games now, so has Luke, we just need to get minutes into them as Pelly has been out for five months now, so it’s a long time.”

Despite Hull losing their last four matches, the Welshman is anticipating a tough match against a side full of Championship quality and international pedigree.

“I see Hull as another tough Championship game, I’d be foolish to do anything other than that. Whatever they do, whatever strengths they have we know about, what they can bring, they’ve got a striker who’s the top scorer in the league, so it’s a real tough game.

“It’s a tough place to go and a tough game, we’ve had to be really good to win, we’ve won the last two up there and I’d like to make that three, but it will be a totally different game to last year and a totally different one to when Grant McCann was in charge, so I see them only as a real tough Championship game and I’d be an idiot to say anything different.

“(Jean Michael) Seri won the league last year with Fulham and Ryan Woods has been about the Championship for years, I had him at Stoke. They brought in a few foreign players with pedigree, Tufan, Estupinan, and kept the likes of (Jacob) Greaves who was rumoured to go for money, so they’ve got a good squad.

"They've spent money, so we won’t underestimate them in any way shape or form, and we want to go there and just concentrate on us. We know what we have to do to try and nullify Hull, but we want to impose ourselves.”

Related Content

  1. 01
  2. 02
  3. 03