Grant McCann won't be 'ripping everything up' ahead of Hull City's trip to Rochdale

It hasn't been a case of needing to go back to the drawing board for Hull City head coach Grant McCann this week.
Hull City head coach Grant McCann. Pictures: Getty ImagesHull City head coach Grant McCann. Pictures: Getty Images
Hull City head coach Grant McCann. Pictures: Getty Images

After a faultless start to life in League One, the Tigers were handed a reality check at Fleetwood Town last time out, shipping three goals without reply in the second half on their way to a 4-1 defeat.

Prior to last Friday's thumping on the Lancashire coast, City had however won four out of four without conceding even once.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Thus, McCann insists he isn't planning on "ripping everything up" ahead of Saturday's visit to Rochdale.

The Tigers were thumped 4-1 at Fleetwood Town last time out, bringing to an end their perfect start to life in League One.The Tigers were thumped 4-1 at Fleetwood Town last time out, bringing to an end their perfect start to life in League One.
The Tigers were thumped 4-1 at Fleetwood Town last time out, bringing to an end their perfect start to life in League One.

"The reality is that we've had one bad half, and that has cost us three goals at Fleetwood, but the reaction has been good," the Northern Irishman said.

"We want to respond at Rochdale, but we've got to bear in mind that the group have had really good performances and results as well, so it's not about ripping everything up and changing everything after one bad half of football.

"We know this group has a real determination to bounce back."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

City were beaten at Fleetwood last Friday evening, and with no midweek fixture in between that game and their clash with Rochdale, McCann and his men have had plenty of time to dwell on what went wrong at Highbury.

And while the Hull chief admits his players would have loved the opportunity to try and bounce back almost immediately, he feels that the eight-day break between matches has benefited the cub.

"It's been longer than a week hasn't it, because we played Friday night," he added.

"Ideally, we'd have loved a game as quickly as possible, but what it has done is given us an opportunity to get some players back off the injury table, which is good.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"We've had a full week's training to benefit them so we go into the [Rochdale] game with a healthier-looking squad.

"Tom Eaves is back on the training ground, which is good.Richie Smallwood is back on the training ground. It's great to have those two back.

"Josh Magennis comes back from international duty, Callum Jones is back from international duty.

"The only player that will be missing will be James Scott."

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.