Mike Phelan suggests captain Michael Dawson will start for Hull against Stoke
Friday 21 October 2016 13:19, UK
Hull boss Mike Phelan has suggested he will throw Michael Dawson straight back into the starting XI against Stoke City on Saturday.
The 32-year-old Tigers skipper returned this week from a knee injury that has kept him out since pre-season.
Dawson assisted Phelan, who is short of several backroom staff members, from the bench as Hull were thrashed 6-1 at Bournemouth last weekend.
But ahead of Stoke's visit, Phelan said: "He experienced sitting on bench last week and he doesn't want to experience that again.
"You want leaders in your team, you want experience and Michael certainly carries a lot of that. He's trained all week, he's ready and available, and I'm sure he'll feature in the game."
Hull were set to welcome back right-back Moses Odubajo, also from a long-term injury, in the next couple of weeks but the England youth international fell and broke his knee-cap on Thursday
Odubajo's prognosis is for at least six months on the sidelines and Phelan hopes he will see him back before the end of the season.
Phelan explained: "Moses had been doing his rehab on an individual basis just to get him back in the group.
"We got him to that point. He was in top class condition, training hard and very committed to another couple of weeks, then he'd be back.
"At the end of a session he had a fall that resulted in his patella (knee-cap) being fractured. So we are taking the steps now to make sure he's rehabilitated right. He requires surgery and we look forward to hopefully seeing him before the end of the season.
"It's not ideal timing. We lost Dieumerci Mbokani during the international break, when he'd done very well, and to lose the left-back (Andrew Robertson) with a calf injury for a period of time is a problem, but it's something we can fill and deal with.
"Josh Tymon is young and inexperienced, but has played against Arsenal in the cup and is progressing. We also have an option in Sam Clucas."
