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Hull City's stern test, Tzolakis and Hjerto-Dahl watch and injury pain

· Barry Cooper · 2026-08-09 · nguồn gốc

Hull City's stern test, Konstantinos Tzolakis and Jens Hjerto-Dahl watch and injury pain The depleted Tigers were beaten in Germany on Saturday afternoon Hull City's latest trip to Europe saw them suffer a first friendly defeat in two years, finding themselves on the wrong end of a 2-0 defeat against strong opposition in the form of Eintracht Frankfurt. The Tigers, already without a host of players because of injury, lost Paddy McNair and Liam Millar in a damaging first half which will have done little to improve the mood of a frustrated Sergej Jakirovic. City's ever-growing injury list, which became a huge problem last season, only emphasises the need for more new arrivals quickly, with less than two weeks to go until the Premier League season gets underway. The game did, however, see Konstantinos Tzolakis and Jens Hjerto-Dahl make thier Tigers debuts and come through well, so that will be a positive. JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! Latest Hull City news and analysis on our Hull Live FB page A good test After three games against fairly average opposition, City finally played a team of real quality, and it showed. Frankfurt may have missed out on Europe by one place last season, but they're an established Bundesliga club who won the Europa League only four years ago. This is more like the level they'll be facing in the Premier League, and it provided them with exactly what was needed just two weeks out from the start of the new campaign. There was also a bit of extra needle in the contest, which again, is never a bad thing to get them match-ready and sharp for that big opener against United. Tzolakis watch Albeit caught out of position for the opening goal, his calmness around the box was impressive, and so, too, was his distribution, which was excellent. He started one attack that almost led to a goal when he freed Lewie Coyle brilliantly down the right-hand side. There was plenty of promise in his 90-minute display, before he was replaced by Dillon Phillips for the final 30 minutes of the 120-minute encounter. He'll benefit from a full week of training in Cottingham, before Saturday's home meeting with Nice at the MKM Stadium. How did Jens get on? A slow start, which is understandable given the manic few days he's had in sealing his move to England and then, within hours, flying to Germany. He grew into the first half and showed some intelligent touches. One moment in particular, when he released Coyle with a smart ball over the top, showed a good awareness during the hour he played. City's need is pressing, but he's still a player for the future, and the expectation shouldn't be on him coming in and having an immediate impact on the Premier League. Injuries. Again. Already without Eliot Matazo, Darko Gyabu, Charlie Hughes, Matty Jacob, Oscar Zambrano and Hidemasa Morita, losing Jack Butland will be a cruel blow for both the goalkeeper and Sergej Jakirovic. Butland has really impressed in pre-season, and him being out is a problem. Tzolakis will need to get grips with life in England quickly. The concern for City is that they're once again going into the season with a host of players unavailable, and again they'll be chasing their tail. Given the extensive injury list already being populated, Paddy McNair's withdrawal after just five minutes would have done little to improve Jakirovic's mood, and that would have then worsened when Liam Millar was forced off with a knee problem just before half-time. He later appeared on the bench with his knee taped and on crutches - though that did bring some amusement to Sergej Jakirovic. Thankfully, Millar was full of beans on the flight home and is expected to be fine, and though Paddy McNair will be assessed, the feeling was that he will be OK. And then there was one All of a sudden, City have just one game left in pre-season before it all kicks off against Manchester United on Saturday week. Every year, the six-week pre-season campaign goes even quicker and that's again been the case. City's final game in public at least will come against Nice at the MKM Stadium on Saturday afternoon, and it'll be the first chance for fans to get a look at their side in action on English soil. It'll also be the final chance for Jakirovic to put things into action against a good level of opposition, and hopefully, we'll see more new arrivals involved because they will need the minutes desperately. By that point, there will need to be a flurry of new arrivals to give Jakirovic any chance of bedding them in before United visit. Here at Hull Live , we are dedicated to bringing you the best Hull City coverage and analysis. Make sure you don't miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe. You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day's biggest stories.