New arrivals wing in to deliver options for Hull City

Hull City are still reeling from losing two thirds of their Championship goals on January’s transfer deadline day, but Josh Magennis believes Jarrod Bowen and Kamil Grosicki’s replacements can bring the best out of him and fellow striker Tom Eaves.
Hull City's Tom Eaves (centre right) celebrates scoring his side's fourth goal of the game with teammate Josh Magennis against Swansea.Hull City's Tom Eaves (centre right) celebrates scoring his side's fourth goal of the game with teammate Josh Magennis against Swansea.
Hull City's Tom Eaves (centre right) celebrates scoring his side's fourth goal of the game with teammate Josh Magennis against Swansea.

Magennis and Eaves are two physical targetmen ideally suited for a team like the Tigers which plays with genuine wingers.

But Bowen was more of a wide forward than a winger, scoring 54 goals in 131 appearances for Hull but only assisting 14. Grosicki made more than he scored – but only just, 27 to 26.

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So while no one is pretending that Bowen’s departure for West Ham United and Grosicki’s for West Bromwich Albion was a good thing for the team, it could help the centre-forwards to develop.

“Kammy and Jarrod are two different types of wingers to Mallik (Wilks) and Marcus (Maddison, Hull’s January signings),” said Magennis. “When they came in, you put all of your eggs in one basket that they have to hit the ground running and learn what we are doing.

“As strikers, we are learning that we have got two wingers that are out-and-out crossers of the ball, they try and get the ball in the box and it is just a transition we are trying to make.

“We have managed to do it quite well, there are a lot of areas to improve but we have had a lot of positives and we have just got to try and make sure that we are more consistent more than ever. I don’t think we are a bad team, we just have to be more consistent.”

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Neither Magennis nor Eaves could claim to have been prolific for Hull, scoring four and eight goals respectively in all competitions since their summer moves. They may get more service now, though.

“I tell them, you will find me between the sticks,” said Northern Ireland international Magennis. “I think you can see with more crosses that are going in the box now. It just makes it a lot easier.

“Kammy and Jarrod, they were men on a mission, every time they got the ball, it was electric. They could create something from nothing, but with these two wingers that have come in, they are out-and-out wingers that get the ball in the box.

“It is good to play with all different types of players, hopefully, we can just gel and go on and start winning games as well.”

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Coach Grant McCann has worked with Wilks and Maddison before, and has been delighted at how quickly they have settled in at Hull. Despite Magennis’s assertion that they are more out-and-out wingers, former Doncaster Rovers and Barnsley player Wilks has scored twice in seven appearances, and Maddison got off the mark in Friday’s thrilling 4-4 draw with Swansea City.

McCann even saw something Bowen-esque in Wilks.

“They’ve both made a big impact since they’ve come in,” he commented. “Mallik’s only started five games, one of them was against Chelsea, and he’s scored two goals. I know what he can do, he can score goals and get himself in positions in the box.

“His two goals are similar to the way Jarrod scored goals for us, he arrives in the box, shoots and gets ricochets and things like that.

“Marcus has made a good impact too. You can see he’s such a threat when he gets on the ball, he’s always looking to get forward or put somebody in.”

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Another different element to Hull’s game came as they chased a late equaliser against the Swans. Eaves was brought off the bench to partner Magennis, who set up the 95th-minute goal which secured a point.

It raised the question of whether the two should start together as McCann looks to address a slump in form which has not seen his team win since the first week of January.

“It is just about being in the right areas, just a centre-forward putting a ball where hopefully, another centre-forward would be, where guys like me and Tom are,” Magennis said of his assist. “We are not whippets, we are big lumps of fellas and that is where we tend to be, between the six yard box and between the posts and he was there and he managed to tap it in.

“There’s no selfishness in the team, everyone wants to win. The end goal is to do the best we can and whoever gets chosen to start, me and Tom will back each other but if we manage to play together then happy days, because it takes a lot of pressure off the one playing up front and puts a lot of pressure on the back four. It makes them a bit nervous and jittery trying to deal with two people running at them.”

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Meanwhile, Hull have confirmed Jackson Irvine will captain the side until Eric Lichaj returns from injury. “I will step into that role on the field when I am selected,” said the Australian.

“It is a role I look to embrace and bring my own character into.”

Lichaj and Herbie Kane had been ruled out for the season, but McCann has said that with neither requiring an operation, it is possible they could return late in the campaign. Defender Angus MacDonald returned to training on Monday after bowel cancer.