Pacy, direct and clever - Why Gavin Whyte's Hull City return ahead of Doncaster Rovers clash is a 'huge boost'

There have been a number of positive developments on the injury front in the last week, with on-loan Cardiff City winger Whyte joining holding midfielder Alfie Jones in proving that he is ready to go again having damaged an ankle at the end of January.

Striker Tom Eaves is also back in training and is expected to be available for selection within the next seven days, while young midfielder Callum Jones is another player closing in on a return.

Whyte impressed McCann immediately upon joining the club last month, and the Hull chief is hopeful of being able to involve him at the Keepmoat Stadium this weekend in a showdown which sees League One's fifth-placed team host second in the table.

"Gavin Whyte is back out on the pitch, we are hoping he is going to be with us on Saturday at Doncaster. It's a huge boost. Having Gavin back, having these bodies back is a huge boost," he said.

"Gavin, when he came in, made a huge impact, his pace, his directness, his cleverness and understanding of the game in his position is brilliant and to have him back is a huge boost for us this weekend.

"It's nice to have options. We've got some headaches, but that is what you want as a manager, you want those headaches every week."

McCann revealed that the return of Whyte and Tom Eaves to group training at the start of this week visibly boosted the rest of his players, while he also believes that the pair coming back into contention will have prompted some members of his squad into thinking that they need to up their own game.

"At the training ground on Monday when we saw Tom Eaves and Gavin Whyte walk out you could see the group look around and think 'great'. It's great to see these players coming back," City's head coach added.

"Has that given the boys a kick up the back-side and made them think 'I need to start scoring goals, I need to start performing here'? Hopefully. I hope it has because that's the nature of the beast in football. We want competition.

"That's the reason why we've got a big squad, that's the reason why we've got high levels of performance from a lot of the players because they know that underneath them they've got people who can come in and take their place in a heart-beat."