The Tigers kick off the New Year with a home meeting against the Potters
Barry Cooper Hull City correspondent
14:22, 31 Dec 2025
Ryan Giles receives treatment at the Riverside Stadium(Image: Mark Cosgrove/News Images)
Hull City are expected to be without Ryan Giles for their 2026 curtain raiser against Stoke City at the MKM Stadium on Thursday afternoon.
Giles limped out of Monday night’s 1-0 win at Middlesbrough with a hamstring problem after just five minutes and it’s expected the in-form full-back will not feature against the Potters.
City assistant boss Dean Holden said the club are awaiting the results of a scan to determine the extent of the damage to his hamstring. It’s understood Giles will not be involved and could likely face a spell on the sidelines as he recovers from the issue that saw him replaced by teenager Cathal McCarthy.
Losing Giles for any length of time will come as another blow to Sergej Jakirovic, who continues to suffer bad luck with injuries to key players, as he has all season.
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Republic of Ireland Under-21 international James Furlong could be drafted into the squad as a potential replacement for Giles, though he has not yet made his Championship debut for the Tigers more than two years after joining from Brighton and Hove Albion.
Both Lewie Coyle and Oli McBurnie are fine and were part of a light training session on Wednesday ahead of City’s latest Championship outing as they look to back up that impressive win on Teesside, which moved them to within two points of the automatic promotion places at the turn of an eventful year.
John Lundstram is not yet back in training as he continues to recover from a knee injury he sustained just days after the win at Stoke in late November, and it’s hoped he could play some part against Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup on Sunday week, which means he will also miss the visit of Watford on Sunday.
Brandon Williams remains out with a calf problem but Cody Drameh could return after missing the last two games with a hip complaint. City will still be unable to call upon Joe Gelhardt, Mo Belloumi and midfielder Eliot Matazo.
“We’re waiting on the scan result,” Holden told Hull Live of Giles’ situation. “We lost him three or four minutes into the game when he went to make that cross early on. He felt it cramp up in his hamstring, and at the time, he felt he could maybe go back on and give it another try. It’s obviously a huge risk involved with that. Gilo’s pretty much played every minute of every game. He’s gone for a scan, and we’re waiting on the result of that.
“We’ve barely trained since the game. There’s not much time to train at all. The boys who were out this morning (Wednesday) literally did a little bit of a walkthrough, and some worked on one or two things, but physically, they can’t be expected to do anything really.
“Anything we do today physically is going to take away from them for tomorrow’s game, so we have to be really cautious with that.”
Lundstram’s knee issue continues to keep him sidelined, having initially expected to return at Sheffield Wednesday on Boxing Day.
“We’re hoping once we get through these next couple of games, at the start of next week, Lunny will be back training with the group,” Holden continued.
“He’s been a miss for us. It probably took a little bit longer than he and we would have liked, but he’s going smoothly at the moment, and we’re hoping he’ll be back with us on Monday or Tuesday next week.”
Skipper Lewie Coyle was withdrawn in the second half at the Riverside, having been one of the players who were feeling under the weather but both he and Oli McBurnie are expected to feature against the Potters.
“He was one of a number who went into the game feeling a bit of illness, and that’s a tough position, having done it myself all them years ago,” Holden added.
“The wingback position is a really tough one physically, and it’s particularly against a team like Middlesbrough. He was suffering with fatigue towards the end, so it was the right thing to bring him off, freshen it up, but he’s been one of the lads that’s been out with the group this morning (Wednesday) and seems OK. We’ll be the same squad as we had the other night.”
Furlong has endured a nightmare 2025, which has been hampered by injury, though, given Giles’ expected absence, the Irishman could be drafted into the squad.
“Potentially, yeah, I think we’re waiting,” Holden said of Furlong’s involvement. “That’ll be the next 24 thing before the game tomorrow. We’ll wait and see, but Jimbo trained this morning with the lads, and yeah, he’s ready to come into the squad if needed.
“Brandon’s (Williams) still with the physios, I just saw him there before I came up to speak to you guys. He’s still doing his early-stage rehab and treatment with the physio, so he’s a while away.”
Holden, who spent a spell at Stoke a few years ago, will get another taste of facing his former club on Thursday, just hours after the pair were fined for their post-match squabbles.
Results for the Potters have dipped since the Tigers were 2-1 winners, with Mark Robins’ men winning just one since. The Stoke boss then criticised some fans for booing his changes in the defeat to Sheffield United on Monday, a result which saw them slip to 10th, having been second when the pair met in late November.
“It’s a wonderful club, absolutely loved my time there,” he continued. “What a fantastic club that is. I think they were second in the league when we played them not so long ago. I think that you’re right in terms of results.
“They’ve not been playing too dissimilar to what they were when we came up against them last time. They’ve been on the wrong end of a couple of results, and they’ve picked up some injuries themselves as well.
“They’ve certainly got quality, and if you look at it again, I touched on it when we played them in the previous game. You look at the wide areas, you look at the forward areas, they’ve got some good options. For us, we’ve got to make sure we’re bang on our game because we’ve seen at Sheffield Wednesday for instance, in that first half, if you’re not quite on the money, if your energy’s not quite right, you can get punished.
“It doesn’t matter who you’re coming up against in this league, Stoke, they’ve got a really, really good squad. They’ve got a great manager who knows this division inside out, so we’ve got to make sure that we’re on our mettle tomorrow.
“The boys will be ready, as I say, it’s a tough, tough period for anyone inside the industry at this time of year. Four games in nine days, it’s tough for players, for staff. We’re not moaning about it. It’s a great time of year to be in this game; there’s a lot of attention on it, and all our focus is on Stoke.
“We’re not thinking about Watford. We’re not thinking about anything in the January transfer window; that’s going on behind the scenes. Our focus has to be on making sure the players recover well enough, particularly on the low numbers that we’ve got, and making sure that we’ve got the energy from the start against a really strong competitive Stoke team.”
As for his New Year’s Eve plans, Holden says he’ll be relaxing with a takeaway to see in what he hopes will be a thrilling 2026 for the Tigers
He said: “My wife’s actually working. She’s presenting on Talk TV tonight, so I’ll be getting a takeaway. I’ll be in with the young kids watching her on telly and enjoying that. It’s great for her that she’s getting a career going again. Things are good.
“Happy New Year to all you guys, all our supporters, everybody out there that’s supported the club throughout the year. We’ve only been here for half of it, but we certainly appreciate all the support, not just the other night, which was fantastic, but every home game, every away game, so let’s hope we can make it an exciting 2026.”
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