Grayson sure Livermore’s hunger can provide added bite to Leeds

The 21-year-old Tottenham Hotspur midfielder yesterday moved to Elland Road on loan until the end of the season.

Livermore follows Aston Villa’s Barry Bannan in joining United as part of Grayson’s attempts to bolster his midfield ahead of the all-important run-in. Grayson said: “Jake is a hungry young player who has gained good experience at this level with both Derby and Ipswich.”

Livermore, who faced Leeds earlier in the season as Ipswich won 2-1 at Portman Road, arrived in West Yorkshire as midfielders Adam Clayton and Ramon Nunez joined MK Dons and Scunthorpe United respectively on loan.

United captain Jonny Howson has pulled out of the England Under-21s squad to face Iceland with a hamstring injury.

The perilous state of Hull City’s finances before last December’s takeover by the Allam family have been laid bare by the club’s newly-published accounts.

The figures show that the Tigers owed creditors a little over £43m in July last year and that they had just £155,000 in cash at the bank when the monthly wage bill was more than £3m.

At the time, Hull had just been relegated from the Premier League and the accounts show that funds of £26m were pumped into the club following the Allams taking charge on December 17 last year.

The sum was part of a total commitment of £40m made by Assem and Ehab Allam, a figure that was revealed at the time of the successful takeover. The newly-published accounts also stress that the new owners are predicting future “trading profitability and stability”.

Since the takeover, Hull’s fortunes on the pitch have improved markedly and yesterday Nigel Pearson recalled Matt Duke from his loan spell at Derby County.

The 33-year-old had fallen out of favour at the KC Stadium due to the arrival of, first, Vito Mannone and then Brad Guzan on loan.

He moved to Pride Park at the start of this month but has been recalled after Hull lost Mannone to a thigh injury that parent club Arsenal are still monitoring.

Duke’s return apart, however, there was no further transfer activity at the KC Stadium ahead of yesterday’s deadline despite Pearson being keen on Derby defender Dean Leacock.

The Hull manager wanted to sign a right-back due to Liam Rosenior being ruled out for three weeks and Paul McShane having returned injured from a loan stint at Barnsley.