The Tigers have a crucial run of fixtures coming up over the next three weeks
Barry Cooper Hull City correspondent
05:00, 16 Feb 2026
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Sergej Jakirovic has explained his team selection against the Blues(Image: George Wood/Getty Images)
Sergej Jakirovic says it's crucial Hull City shake off the disappointment of their FA Cup exit on Friday night, as attention turns back to the Championship.
City's cup exit at the hands of Premier League Chelsea means full focus is now on the quest for points in the race for promotion, which resumes on Saturday afternoon when QPR visit the MKM Stadium.
Prior to the Chelsea defeat, City had been held by Watford before losing to Bristol City at the MKM Stadium. Those two results ended their four-game winning run, which had moved them to within touching distance of the Championship's summit.
Now the Tigers have seven games in 21 days, with QPR and then play-off rivals Derby County closely following, and that's a key reason why Jakirovic made six changes, resting Ivor Pandur, Charlie Hughes and Oli McBurnie.
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"It's very important, it's very important," the Croatian told Hull Live. "We also spared some players because we tried to use this week for their recovery, so they can be available for the next games, which is very important. This is the reason why we changed so many players. We put everything that is healthy right now in our squad.
"Because of their injuries, this is the reason why we changed. We put three fast players up front, and in the first half, they had some nice counter-attacks; we just lacked better decisions."
In the first half against the Blues, City's attacking trio of Liam Millar, Lewis Koumas and Yu Hirakawa carved out some good moments, and on another day, could have got their noses in front before Pedro Neto scored the first of his three to take the game away from the plucky hosts.
"Since day one, we have been working very hard," he continued. "We have shown in the previous games that we can play good football, and if you can create some chances against Chelsea, we should continue like this."
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