The six-goal striker has been a big miss for the Tigers in the past three games
Barry Cooper Hull City correspondent
05:00, 03 Nov 2025
Oli McBurnie has not played since City’s 3-2 win at Birmingham City last month (Image: Richard Sellers/PA Wire)
Hull City expect to be without star striker Oli McBurnie until after the international break, after suffering a setback in his recovery from a calf injury.
McBurnie has missed City’s last three games since leaving the win at Birmingham City in the second half, and it was hoped he could return at Derby County on Tuesday night, as the Tigers look to back up Saturday’s fantastic 2-0 success at Norwich City which extended their unbeaten run to six games.
City had hoped to have McBurnie back before now, but realistically expected him to return at Pride Park, or at the very worst, on Saturday when the Tigers host struggling Portsmouth.
Unfortunately, it’s understood that will now not be the case, but with the international break to follow after the visit of Pompey, there’s an expectation he will be fully recovered by the time City go to QPR on November 22, with the break coming at a crucial time for Sergej Jakirovic and his injury-hit squad.
Mo Belloumi has also suffered a setback in his recovery from a hamstring problem, and his potential return on Saturday has been scrubbed from the calendar. Like McBurnie and John Lundstram, he expects to be in the squad that travels to Loftus Road later this month.
As it stands, City’s squad is likely to be largely the same at Pride Park as it was at Carrow Road, with the possible inclusion of Brandon Williams, who played in the Tigers’ Under-21s 2-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday on Friday.
“He will be with us for sure on Tuesday,” the City boss said of Williams. “We made a six-week plan for Brandon so that he gets minutes in a row, and we can see if he will be available to us or not.”
Another who has been nursing a hamstring problem is Akin Famewo, and it’s expected that he will return to training on Monday and be in the squad at Pride Park.
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