Sergej Jakirovic on Hull City's Premier League return: 'When I look at Arsenal, Man United, Man City, all these big teams, big names, maybe you will not have a chance. But this is still football'

But as the Tigers prepare to step up their preparations with a lengthy pre-season tour that will see them spend nine days in Slovenia and three in Turkey, the over-riding feeling at their Cottingham training base is one of excitement.

And definitely not fear.

If Hull had followed the script last season, they would never be in this division.

Many were predicting them to be involved in a relegation battle in 2024-25, having only just scraped through one the year before, then seen themselves hit with a ban on buying players or even paying loan fees for them in the season to come. Nobody was tipping them for promotion.

But Jakirovic, with his jokey demeanour camouflaging an astute tactical brain, led his team into the Championship play-offs, were they sat for much of the early part of 2026. After the March international break, hampered by an injury to midfielder Regan Slater, they looked to have blown it, going into the final day needing snookers to finish in the top six.

But they got them.

They failed to score in the home leg of their semi-final against Millwall, then went down to the New Den and won. Middlesbrough, automatic promotion contenders until very late in the piece dominated the Wembley final, but Hull held their nerve and beat them too.

Doing it the hard way holds no fears for them, so nor will facing European super-clubs they should not be able to compete with, starting with Manchester United on August 22.

After two years of seeing newly-promoted clubs drop out of the Premier League at the first attempt, last season Leeds United and Sunderland gave hope and a model to follow to 2026's intake.

Maybe Hull will be at their absolute best in 2026-27 and still go down, but maybe not. That sense of jeopardy, that sense of opportunity, is what competitive sport is all about.

“I'm very excited, yes,” says Jakirovic as he sits in the sunshine contemplating his second season as Tigers coach.

“It's a big thing to be in the Premier League. I know how difficult it is to get the chance (to manage) in the Premier League because it always goes to, I can say, the names.

“So it's okay, we got promoted (instead).

“Now we have to build a team who will be competitive, not just participating there.

“I know me, I know my staff, the players know our habits – we like to win the games.

“So I hope we will be one team who will perform well and be competitive.”

And Jakirovic will relish being written off again, just as the players who confounded expectations last season will. In trying to upgrade the squad with the 14 new players owner/chairman Acun Ilicali is targeting in this transfer window, it is important that mindset is not diluted.

Some relegation-threatened managers like to target certain games for the 38 points or whatever it is Hull will need for survival. Jakirovic insists he will not do that.

“This is football,” says a man who having grown up in war-torn Bosnia has everything in its proper perspective. "”Nobody expected that we will have a promotion to the Premier League. Nobody.

“Now you have to be ready for that. There is no easy game in the Premier League.

“When I look at Arsenal, Man United, Man City, all these big teams, big names, maybe you will not have a chance. But this is still football. You have to be ready for that.

“We will prepare every game like always – very, very professional.

“But also there are teams who you can compete against and you can win the points. So we will try everything to get these points.

“I know how demanding and difficult it is. When I look at Burnley, they won promotion from the Championship with 100 points, then last season they took 22 points. So it's very, very difficult.

“But also Leeds, Sunderland, they showed a recipe that we can build. If you spend money wisely and with a plan, we can build.

“Maybe Manchester United will be tired from the World Cup. I'm joking, of course.

“But you never know. All big teams, they have a slow start, especially Man United. I think statistically they are in right order around October and then they will beat you at the end of the season.

“I will try every game to take points.

“Maybe when we play Coventry (Hull's second opponents, who won last season's Championship, people will say) we will take the points but also Frank (Lampard, their manager) will say that they will beat us.

“So we'll take it every game by game.

“When you look at the first five rounds, you can put our goal, our target, at let's take 50 per cent of the points if it's possible. We don't know yet. We will see.

“It's game by game and then we will see.

“But first, and what is most important, is to bring good quality to our team.”

Their summer plans confused by financial fair play issues which could not be put behind them until the end of June, at the time of writing and disrupted by the departure of sporting director Jared Dublin, Hull have only added Jack Butland to their squad.

But Jakirovic is optimistic midfielder Oscar Zambrano might be on the plane that leaves East Yorkshire on Monday. Others should not be far behind, with Hull waiting on Swedish left-sider Elliot Stroud, and Ilicali speaking days earlier about how he hoped to have a new centre-back on board by the middle of next week.

“I think it's 95 per cent that he will join us,” says Jakirovic of Greece goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis, who will compete for the No 1 spot with Butland in a sign of how competitive Hull want their squad to be.

Under Ilicali, Hull have got used to hectic deadline days but with much work to do on tactics and team spirit, Jakirovic would like as many new faces on tour as possible.

“It's better to train with the team,” acknowledges the coach.

“Because, you know, when they (transfer targets) have said to me, I have worked individually, this is also very tricky. It's better to join us as soon as possible.

“My first worry is our team. How we will build our team, which players I can choose together with our recruitment as well, what we can bring here – pace, speed.”

That will be Hull's mindset in 2026-27. With so much to worry about from the quality of opponents they will face, that will be left to other people.