Joao Pedro fitness latest as Hull City star faces race against time to be fit for Cardiff City clash
Kasey Palmer faces a race against time to be fit for the game against Cardiff City on Saturday after picking up a problem in training with boss Tim Walter admitting he will make a decision in the next 24 hours.
Palmer was influential in helping City turn around the deficit at Stoke City last Friday night, scoring the first and having a big hand in the third as the Tigers notched their first win of the season.
Abdus Omur left proceedings at half-time while Oscar Zambrano limped out early in the second half, but Walter says both are expected to be available to face the managerless Bluebirds at the MKM Stadium in their first home 3pm kick-off of the season.
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New signing Joao Pedro, who completed the formalities of his move to City on Thursday is not expected to be involved after only a couple of training sessions, as he builds up his fitness having not played a competitive game since April during his loan spell in Brazil with Gremio in Brazil.
There was good news, however, with Walter confirming Charlie Hughes could be in the squad at QPR on Tuesday as he recovers from recent Appendix surgery, while Dogukan Sinik is back in full training for the first time after joining in with the rest of the group on Thursday.
"I don't think so," Walter told Hull Live when asked if Pedro could be involved on Saturday. "He didn't play for three months because he was injured. It's maybe another week or another two weeks, but he looks good (in training so far), to be fair, but he can still improve.
"He was training a little bit, but only with a youth team in his home country to stay in a good shape, but not in real competition with the same age group."
Both Omur and Zambrano are in line to remain involved, though that presents Walter with a big selection dilemma given the impact of Liam Millar, Xavier Simons and Regan Slater off the bench.
"They're getting better to start," Walter said, before confirming they would be involved at the weekend and then going on to talk about Palmer.
"Kasey has a bit of a muscle problem, so we don't know if he can play on Saturday," he said. "Yesterday the situation came to light, but it's not that hard, though I don't know if it's enough time to prepare him for Saturday. It's good to have him, but therefore, we need a big squad and we have a big squad, and I'm really convinced in all my players and now we have that big squad to deal with it."
Hughes has missed the last couple of weeks after complaining of stomach problems and required surgery to remove an Appendix but has recovered quicker than initially anticipated.
"I think next week he (Hughes) will be back on the grass. It's great to have him here again. Fortunately, he's progressing, and it's good. Maybe it's time to get on the bench next week, but we will see."
Dogukan Sinik also took a big step towards a return to a matchday squad after taking part in full training for the first time as he looks to make a return for the first time in almost a year.
"Today (Thursday) he trained for the first time in the full session," Walter continued. "He needs the time to get more confident in himself, especially in his body, but it's up to him. We can help him, but at the end, he has to feel this confidence in his body and it's all about his head and his mind, so we will see, but it's good to have him back on the grass. It's up to him, I can give him the confidence from my side, but he has to take it and he has to be confident in his body."
Elsewhere, Ryan Longman and Andy Smith are making progress in their respective recoveries but won't be back in action until after the international break.