When Sergej Jakirovic was appointed head coach of Hull City last June, English football was only something he had watched on television. But fortunately as someone who grew up in the Balkans, he was not short of "phone a friend" options.

Jakirovic played his football for Bosnia, but has dual nationality with Croatia, a country which has had a big impact on English football in recent years.

So seeing him lead Hull to victory on Jakirovic's first visit to Wembley, a few can be expecting to be mined for information about the Premier League.

"They know everything about football, my friends, (and) what I need to do," said Jakirovic after Saturday's 1-0 Championship play-off final win over Middlesbrough. "I have a lot of friends who I played with.

"My friends are head coaches in Croatia and around the world.

"I have a friend from Slaven Bilic's (coaching) staff, Danilo Butorovic. He spoke about the Championship a lot. But now I have much more experience of everything here."

He will need some luck too, and he was not too proud to admit Hull got some at Wembley.

"Maybe if (Hayden) Hackney is healthy because he's had two months without football, you need time," he said of the Championship player of the season, only fit enough to be on Middlesbrough's bench. "This is a big game.

LEARNING EXPERIENCE: Hull City manager Sergej Jakirovic (right) (Image: Adam Davy/PA Wire)

placeholder image — LEARNING EXPERIENCE: Hull City manager Sergej Jakirovic (right) (Image: Adam Davy/PA Wire)

"It's very important that we had tactical discipline, that we stuck together.

"We knew we would have our opportunities. We had two very good chances in the first half. And also this Mo Belloumi vertical pass maybe too strong for Liam (Millar).

"So we knew to wait for this type of situation.

"And also it's very important that you have stability - ballast behind."