The 19-year-old has shown glimpses of his talent in Black and Amber so far this season
Barry Cooper Hull City correspondent
05:00, 20 Nov 2025
Joel Ndala celebrates scoring his first Championship goal against Derby County at Pride Park
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Joel Ndala celebrates scoring his first Championship goal against Derby County at Pride Park(Image: Jon Hobley/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Joel Ndala is relishing the fight at Hull City, as he faces up to a battle to win back his place in Sergej Jakirovic's first team squad heading into the festive period.
Ndala started both away games at Norwich City and Derby County but found himself back on the bench in the final outing before the international break against Portsmouth.
The on-loan Manchester City loanee netted his first Championship goal at Pride Park, and it looked to have been enough to earn a point, before a late error condemned the Tigers to a first loss in seven.
City return to action on Saturday at QPR in the first of 11 games between now and the pause for the FA Cup third round over the second week in January, and they're starting to welcome back key figures.
Mo Belloumi was back in the squad for the win over Pompey but didn't get off the bench, while Liam Millar is edging closer to a return from his hamstring injury.
Having those two front-line performers back will likely make it more difficult for Ndala and David Akintola to force their way into the first team, but Ndala is determined to stake his case.
"It's good competition because it shows that you need to be at one hundred per cent all the time," he told Hull Live. "You need to be doing everything that you can do right.
"You know that you've got quality players that are gonna come back, and it keeps you on your toes, so it'll help me. I like competition. I don't back down from them, so yeah, it's a good thing, I think."
While Ndala hasn't played as much as he would have liked since joining on a season-long loan in the summer, the England Under-20 international says he's learned a lot from Sergej Jakirovic.
"He's really helped me, especially on the defensive side. He's a manager who really wants you to be able to do both, defend and attack, because it's the way football is nowadays. You can't just be an attacker, you've got to come back and help the defence out.
"For me personally, he also gives me the freedom to play, to play football. It's not too structured going forward, and I think that's a good thing. The way that we play really helps the way that I play as well because that's the way that I want to play, so it's really good."
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