Bullard to return with Hull City in need of boost

The Tigers suffered a major setback in the fight to stay in the Premier League at the weekend by sliding to a 3-0 defeat at West Ham United.

Hull's frustration was added to by Craig Fagan's red card and Anthony Gardner being stretchered off at Upton Park.

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X-rays yesterday revealed there was no break but further examinations will take place today to determine when the Hull captain can return.

The lacklustre display left Brown so furious he summoned the entire squad to the club's training ground yesterday morning for a meeting.

He also cancelled a scheduled appearance on the Sky Sports TV programme Goals on Sunday to conduct the post-mortem into what had gone wrong in London.

Hull will have to wait a fortnight to make amends due to Aston Villa's involvement in the Carling Cup final against Manchester United meaning Saturday's game against Martin O'Neill's men has had to be postponed.

To plug the gap in the schedule, Hull will face Galway United on Friday and Brown is hoping the friendly in Ireland will be significant in terms of getting Bullard back into action after almost three months out with a knee injury.

The Tigers manager said: "We now have a fortnight's gap before we go to Everton and that gives us a chance to get Geovanni, Jimmy Bullard and Bernard Mendy back fit.

"Kamil Zayatte will also get a game in Galway on Friday so this is a chance to get some of our big players fit."

When pressed further on Bullard, Brown said: "Jimmy might play for the reserves on Tuesday but he will certainly play against Galway."

The return of Bullard, who last played for Hull in the defeat at Villa on December 5, would be a major fillip ahead of the final 11 games of the season.

Certainly, Hull's midfield laboured in the defeat at Upton Park where someone of Bullard's class would surely have prospered against a West Ham side whose winning margin was more to do with the failings of the visitors than their own efforts.

Brown was angry at his side's display, hence the decision to cancel their day off yesterday to hold a team meeting.

He said: "You have to keep your temper. We have 11 games and what I can say is this was an uncharacteristic performance.

"I am unhappy with a number of players. I am not here to single anyone out but Craig's actions were self-inflicted damage on the team. He knows that.

"So does Andy Dawson about the first goal. He can't blame Tom Cairney for what happened. I am not here to say it was one person's fault – apart from my own.

"But it was self-inflicted damage. We went 1-0 down inside two-and-a-half minutes and that gave us a mountain to climb.

"We then settled down only to inflict more damage on ourselves in the second half.

"I watched the DVD on the coach home and they were in on Sunday. They were in so we could explain a few things.

"They are genuine lads, who I believe in."

Hull are anxiously awaiting news of Gardner's injury amid fears his season is over.

Brown added: "We will have a better idea when we have had a further look but it swelled up immediately."

The defeat at West Ham continued Hull's poor run of results on the road this season.

Of the 14 games away from the KC Stadium, Hull have drawn just four – at Wolves, Manchester City, Bolton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur – and are yet to win.

The last team to stay up despite not winning away was Leeds United in the first season of the Premier League in 1992-93, Howard Wilkinson's defending champions finishing two points above the drop zone after taking seven points from 21 games.

With trips to Everton, Portsmouth, Stoke City, Birmingham City and Wigan Athletic to come, Brown accepts his side have to start turning their away form around.

He said: "We don't know why our away form is so different to our home form. Maybe it has something to do with pressure.

"Whether we feel more pressure away from home, I don't know. In the first couple of minutes against West Ham it looked like the players were putting themselves under pressure with the decisions they were making.

"One of the things I can do to take the pressure off is to get our bigger players fit.

"When you are playing away from home, whether at Upton Park or Old Trafford, you will be limited in the chances you get. So, when they come along you have to take them.

"(Robert) Green's save (from George Boateng in first-half stoppage time) kept West Ham in a controlling position going into half-time. It could have been a different ball game if it had gone in. It was not through a want of trying that we didn't score, more the thought process."