Lewie Coyle on new Hull City contract, love for club and dream for this season

To sign a deal of that length at the age of 30 is a show of confidence from the East Yorkshire club in their captain, and vice-versa for a player who has seen ups and downs since joining when the Tigers were in League One six years ago.

Now, though, Hull are in the Championship play-off places, five points behind an automatic promotion spot with a game in hand on Coventry City. Promotion to the Premier League is not just a dream, but a realistic ambition, according to Coyle.

"We're sat fourth in the Championship with a real chance to secure a play-off place and push to get promoted this year," says Coyle, whose side host Liam Rosenior's Chelsea in the FA Cup on Friday.

"It would be a dream come true to captain this football club back to the Premier League.

"There's a lot to be happy about, or there certainly should be, from where this football club has been previously.

"There's going to be moments this season – the last couple of games have shown that – where we need the fans to be singing whether it's going swimmingly or we're under the cosh a little bit and we need digging out a bit of a hole.

"We need everybody together for the remainder of the season. Let's create an incredible memory that will stick with everyone.

"But it is such a healthy and an exciting position to be in as a Hull City fan, as a player of Hull City.

"The club in general, I think, is in such a fantastic spot. That's credit to the chairman, to the staff, to the fans, to everybody involved in the football club.

"It takes everybody pulling in the same direction, whoever is in charge of that football club, whoever supports that football club. I think it's a realistic dream this year to achieve promotion."

Full-back Coyle came through Leeds United's academy and had three years at Fleetwood Town before finally joining the club he supported as a boy in 2020.

He says wearing the black and amber brings more out of him.

"It's where I'm from, it's where I was born," he says. "All my family are from here. It's where I grew up.

"My family and my friends come and watch me every single week. So, when I step out on that pitch I've got friends, I've got family, I've got the old man watching me.

"How can I not go out on that pitch and give everything? I'd be doing an injustice to myself, an injustice to my family. It's the only way I know."

Coyle has played 215 times for Hull, often wearing extra protective equipment to protect breaks and wounds others would not play with.

"He's a fighter," says his coach Sergej Jakirovic. "He's not soft.

"He's a skipper and an example.

"Sometimes, if I'm thinking maybe he can skip the game, rest maybe Saturday, then he'll play Tuesday. He always wants to play. It's a great message to me and to the team.

"A captain is not (always) the best player in the team. He's a good character, a good leader.

"The team sees his example – how he trains, how he plays. He's always fighting and this is very important for me as a coach."

Coyle shrugs: "It's just probably the way I was brought up – just crack on. There's probably not a lot that would stop me.

"It's what I get paid to do at the end of the day but it's what I love to do. It's a passion.

"It's about being professional, putting your body in the right position to be able to churn out as many games as this gruelling league asks you to do.

"There's certainly not many things that would stop me playing a game of football."

And bringing through more players with Hull at their heart is a priority for Jakirovic.

"This is the identity of the club," he argues. "If you have more, it's nice.

"Of course, you must have level for the Championship but he's 100 per cent the level of the Championship. He's a very important member of the squad.

"I'm always trying to show the way to the first team. We have a lot of academy players with us (the first team) – at least three or four, sometimes seven or eight. It depends what is the situation with injuries in the team.

"It's not easy to get the chance but now Macca (Cathal McCarthy) is with us. He already played some games. You can see he has quality for this level.

"I think there will be more in the future. This is my target.

"If we have academy players and other players at the same level, I'll always go with the academy player."

Central defender Charlie Hughes is Hull's biggest doubt for Friday's televised FA Cup fourth-round tie, though others could find themselves rested with the game falling in the middle of a punishing Championship schedule.