Hull City sweat on Joe Gelhardt fitness ahead of Wrexham clash

The Leeds United loanee took his goal tally to 10 with a consolation from the penalty spot in last week's 4-1 defeat to Middlesbrough before being forced off with a knock.

Gelhardt did not train on Monday, leaving Hull with an injury headache at a crucial stage of the Championship season.

Assistant manager Dean Holden said: "We're waiting on some medical checks so we'll see how he is for Wednesday.

"It's his calf. He picked something up in that calf in the second half and sort of signalled to the bench that he needed to come off so let's wait and see on that one."

Mo Belloumi, who has yet to score in eight appearances this season but has started just once, is on standby to fill the void should Gelhardt miss the visit of Wrexham, with Oli McBurnie and Liam Millar still working their way back to full fitness.

Holden admits Gelhardt is not easily replaceable after netting eight goals in his last 10 games and underlining his overall value to Hull.

"He goes under the radar a little bit in terms of the work that he does for the team, as well as his goals, assists and chances created," added Holden.

"When he's not on the training pitch, you miss him out there as well with his energy, but we'll wait and see. If he's not available then it's up to somebody else to step up.

"I would say Mo's probably closer to starting in terms of the amount of training that he's had. Liam and Oli have not had a great deal of training, really.

"Liam has had a little bit more than Oli. Oli's only trained once or twice. We'll wait and see tomorrow (Tuesday) to see how we go.

"(John) Lundstram is having some medical checks later this afternoon, early evening, so again, we'll wait and see on that. But other than that, it'll be a similar squad to the weekend."

The heavy loss to Middlesbrough served as a reality check for City after their spirited comeback win at promotion hopefuls Stoke City.

Sergej Jakirovic's side have lost four of their last seven matches, winning the other three to stay in touch with the top six.

Ahead of a typically congested festive period that sees Hull play four games in nine days, Holden recognises the importance of steadying the ship.

"We've been a little bit up and down in terms of results and performances," he said.

"There are a number of reasons for that but we don't want to start talking about stuff individually because it just sounds like excuses.

"We have to find consistency. There's a way of playing that the manager wants the guys to play. We're just five or six months into that going against teams like Wrexham who have been doing it for six or seven years together.

"When we've been good, we've been really good but when we've gone away from the type of team we want to be, it can end in tears. We've got to get back to doing what we do well."