Grant McCann is excited at potential of Hull City star

Hull City attacker Mallik Wilks can be anything he wants to be according to Grant McCann.
Mallik Wilks. Picture: Simon HulmeMallik Wilks. Picture: Simon Hulme
Mallik Wilks. Picture: Simon Hulme

The 21-year-old is the Tigers’ leading marksman in 2020/21 and will be hoping to add to his tally of seven goals at MK Dons this weekend.

Having taken Wilks on loan at previous club Doncaster Rovers before bringing him to East Yorkshire on a permanent deal at the back end of last season, there are few within the game who know the ex-Leeds United forward better than McCann.

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He has had plenty of time to work out a formula for getting the best out of his player during two spells over the last two-and-a-half years, and City’s head coach believes that the sky is the limit.

“Mallik is a young lad who is maturing all the time. When we took him to Doncaster he was a wee bit aloof, a bit all over the place,” McCann said.

“He’s the sort of person you need to put an arm around when you have to and give him a kick up the back-side when it’s needed. It’s about how you manage Mallik. He understands me, he understands Cliff [Byrne – McCann’s No 2] having worked with us before and now he’s getting better and better.

“It’s nice to see him getting on the end of things and scoring goals and he’s really happy. That’s probably the biggest thing we can say, that he’s really happy here and enjoying his football. I just hope there’s more to come.

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“Anything he wants to do, he can do, I feel. He can go where he wants to go because, he’s quick, he’s strong, he can score goals, he’s good in the air.

“The world is his oyster, really, he just needs to keep knuckling down, keep listening to the right people and keep trying to progress his career.”

In addition to Wilks, Hull have another exciting young forward in form in the shape of Martin Samuelsen.

The Norwegian has found himself mainly on the fringes of McCann’s squad so far this term, but has featured in each of the Tigers’ last three matches.

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He netted twice in Tuesday’s Papa Johns Trophy win over Grimsby Town, yet the City chief would not be drawn on whether the 23-year-old’s goal-scoring exploits would be enough to play him into to contention for a starting berth this weekend.

“He’ll grab the headlines because of his goals, but I thought that every one of them played really well – and that’s the competition we have got at this present time,” McCann added.

“In Martin’s position, we’ve got people scoring goals.”

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