'Phenomenal' Hull City captain George Honeyman could feature against Portsmouth

Honeyman missed Tuesday’s loss at Blackpool with a hamstring niggle, but - depending on results of a scan today - he could feature against Pompey, Hull’s final game for 11 days before returning to action at home to fellow high-fliers Lincoln City on December 29.

McCann, whose side head into Friday's game on the back of a three-match winless streak, commented: “We will get a bit more news on him today (Thursday), whether he is going to be okay or not for the game.

“But apart from that, everyone else has come through; Alfie Jones, Calum Jones and Martin Samuelsen. Particularly Alfie and Martin are quite close and might be back next week and Callum a wee bit later.”

Specifically on the issue regarding Honeyman, McCann added: “It is a little niggling problem that George has had for a while.

“He is a really honest boy and does not want to let anyone down and is in really good form. He has probably played through it in a couple of games, but it unsettled him leading into the Blackpool game and he felt it in training.

“We will get the reports back from the scan and find the issue of it. But we are not imagining it to be too long. We are hoping he is going to be okay and we get some good news back and he might be okay for tomorrow.

“We will give him as much time as possible and see what the scan says.

“George has been phenomenal and he has galvanised everyone with his energy, appetite and will to win. He has been a heartbeat for us really and his performances have been of a really high standard.”

After Friday’s game with second-placed Portsmouth, Hull face a mini-break after their Boxing Trip trip to Sunderland was called off.

The Wearsiders' festive fixtures against Shrewsbury, Blackpool and Hull have all been postponed after five positive Covid-19 cases were confirmed following an outbreak at the club’s training ground, which is now closed for a ten-day period.

On his emotions at the news that his side will not play on Boxing Day, McCann said: “It is a bit of a mixture, really. We would love to play the game, of course and keep us in a good position in the table.

“But being off gives us an opportunity to get a bit of rest into the players, but also a bit of work.

“The first thing to say is that I hope everyone at Sunderland is safe and well and comes through this time.,

“We will be probably look at Christmas Day and Boxing Day as a breather and then have them in for the Lincoln game.”