Hull City v Birmingham City: Fully fit-George Honeyman massive lift for Tigers

The Tigers, currently 22nd in the table, entertain Birmingham this afternoon and will be looking to pick up where they left off prior to the recent international break.

Inspired very much by their influential 27-year-old central midfielder, City recorded a much-needed 2-0 success on the road at fellow struglers Barnsley.

Having finally overcome a troublesome ankle problem which prevented him from starting any of the East Yorkshire club’s opening 11 league fixtures, Honeyman scored his side’s first goal at Oakwell before setting up Keane Lewis-Potter to make the game safe.

Those minutes safely under the belt in addition to being able to enjoy a solid fortnight’s worth of work on the training ground mean that the ex-Sunderland captain is now primed and ready to go, with McCann readily admitting how big a role Honeyman has to play.

”George makes a massive difference, he is huge to everything we do,” the Tigers chief said.

“It’s been so frustrating to lose him for a large period of this season, I think he’s started five games. For us to not have George available for 11 games is massive.

“Over the last two games I think he’s shown people what he is capable of.

“The first week he came back he played a game on the Saturday, game on the Wednesday, a game on the Saturday. It was a tough week for him, but it will have been really, really beneficial for him, to get those minutes in his legs. 

“The last two games we’ve seen George come to fore. We see it every single day in training. He’s got that edge back, that hunger and drive.

“It’s never easy when you’re injured, you’ve had an operation on your ankle, you’re forcing your way back, but George is starting to get back to a place we’re happy with.”

Should Honeyman manage to help City get the better of Birmingham today then it would see the Tigers record back-to-back wins for the first time this term, something that McCann believes would provide a real fillip for his players.

“It would be big mentally for the group,” he added. “We realise it is going to be tough, but you see in this division that two, three, four wins on the bounce can propel you right up the league.”