Nigel Adkins banking on Jarrod Bowen to stay at Hull City

The 21-year-old has been a rare shining light in an otherwise gloomy few months back in the Championship for the Tigers.

With ten goals to his name already, Bowen has attracted the interest of several rival clubs.

But Adkins is adamant the talented midfielder is going nowhere.

“We don’t need to sell him,” said Adkins. “From my point of view – and history would suggest – anything can happen in January. Every player has a price. That has always been proven.

“But I have had a good conversation with the owners and we are not looking to sell players.

“Everyone is under contract. Some are out of contract in the summer, but we are looking to give ourselves an opportunity to keep going. You can never say never in the January window, but there’s no desire at this moment to sell anyone.”

Bowen netted on the opening day of the season in a draw at Aston Villa and has shone ever since.

“I have been really pleased with Jarrod,” added Adkins. “He has scored a lot of goals and his ratio of goals to opportunities is very high.

“He is probably back from injury earlier than anticipated so I was delighted to get 20 minutes from him off the bench at Cardiff last week (when Hull lost 1-0).

“We thought he was going to be out until the new year so to have him back already is a massive plus. He had that 20 minutes at Cardiff and you thought, ‘Wow’. But having been out for so long is he in a position to play 90 minutes? Or is he going to play for an hour and come off? We will have to wait and see.”

Bowen’s return last weekend was a welcome fillip for Adkins, who was without 11 senior players in south Wales due to injury.

“We need togetherness,” he added. “Everyone knowing they have got a role and responsibility. We have got good people here who genuinely care.

“I showed the players a clip from last week at the end of the game, when players were on their knees. They had given everything they had in that game. It showed they cared.”