Hull City boss Grant McCann wrestles with Covid balancing act on road to Wembley

Hull City used the Football League Trophy to hand out another debut on Tuesday whilst moving a step closer to Wembley and coach Grant McCann admits a difficult balancing act has been made tougher by Covid-19 restrictions.
Lewie Coyle and Hull City celebrate his injury time winner against Fleetwood Town on Tuesday night at the KCOM Stadium.  Picture: Bruce Rollinson.Lewie Coyle and Hull City celebrate his injury time winner against Fleetwood Town on Tuesday night at the KCOM Stadium.  Picture: Bruce Rollinson.
Lewie Coyle and Hull City celebrate his injury time winner against Fleetwood Town on Tuesday night at the KCOM Stadium. Picture: Bruce Rollinson.

Adam Smith, a 19-year-old centre-back from Hull, played the full 90 minutes against Fleetwood Town as a number of McCann’s fringe players were given much-needed run-outs. But having gone 2-0 down, it needed the cavalry of senior players George Honeyman, Malik Wilks and Keane Lewis-Potter to come off the bench and inspire victory.

“It’s a balancing act really but we want to go strong,” said McCann of the win which put his side into Saturday night’s quarter-final draw.

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“Because of the Covid restrictions we can’t really come into contact with the (under-)23s too much. Maybe you’d have seen more of those involved if not.

Hull City boss, Grant McCann.
 Picture: Bruce RollinsonHull City boss, Grant McCann.
 Picture: Bruce Rollinson
Hull City boss, Grant McCann. Picture: Bruce Rollinson

“(Sean) McLoughlin and Lewie (Coyle) haven’t played much only because of the form of others. The form of Richie Smallwood has kept Dan Batty out. Scotty (James Scott) is just coming back from Covid and Tommy (Mayer) is just taking a wee bit of time but he’s going to be a good player.”

James Berry, Harvey Cartwright, Billy Chadwick, Jacob Greaves, Jordan Hickey, Callum Jones and Ahmed Salam have also made debuts this season.

“We want to get as many of the 23s out to play senior football because they’ll come back in a better place for us,” said McCann.

“It’s just getting the balance right and keeping what we need with Covid. You’ve got to make sure you have enough numbers because at any time you can lose five or six players.”

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