Jakirovic on squad fitness, transfer targets and Coventry

Hull City boss Sergej Jakirovic has been speaking to the media before Thursday's Premier League game against Coventry City at the CBS Arena (15:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

Jakirovic confirmed he has the same squad to select from as the opening day win over Manchester United : "We are fine. All these players had a training session today. We are all completely fine. So, we are ready for Saturday."

He reflected on changing his entire starting XI for Tuesday's Carabao Cup penalty shootout win over Stoke : "We used this opportunity to give minutes to the players who arrived and it was great because it's also about adaptation. It means we can have more players for the next games and I was very pleased because they played a good game."

More on the players who featured on Tuesday: "It's about hunger, passion, ambition. You will get opportunities to play and show your potential. That was the main goal and they responded very well. I was very pleased how we played and now we have even more options for Saturday."

Jakirovic also confirmed the club are close to signing forwards Mohamed-Ali Cho and Ilyas Ansah: "We agreed everything with Cho so I think he will be announced today. With Ansah he will go for a medical check so I expect tomorrow it will be finished. This is a great signing for us."

However, he did not comment on reported interest in Brentford 's Fabio Carvalho and joked: "I can't wait to finish this transfer window, to be honest."

On the challenge posed by fellow promoted side Coventry: "Every game is very important. We know Coventry from our games in the Championship. I'm expecting a very demanding game as it's their first home game back in 25 years and it will be a full stadium. It will be difficult but also we have our plan, we will try to perform good there and try to take something."

More on Frank Lampard's side: "I see some changes. They added more quality in some positions. They are human beings and they need some time for adaptation, like our players. I am expecting them to grow every game like my team. For us, every new game is a new experience. I expect they will already be better than the game against Arsenal ."

Asked if he is enjoying life as a Premier League manager so far, Jakirovic replied: "I enjoy very much. Still, for me, this is football and I am just doing my job. It is a great motivation for me that I can show my potential and we can be competitive and play against much bigger teams. We want to prove everybody wrong and that we are on a good way. That is good motivation."

On whether his side suits the role of underdogs: "Of course we are underdogs. We spent £144m in transfer market. Who is close to us? Coventry spent £260m/£270m. It's normal, but still money doesn't play. That is always my opinion. I never see money scoring the goal, it is players. As a team, we can be dangerous and competitive."

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[BBC]

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