Hull City had some players back in training this week with more to come, but coach Sergej Jakirovic admits it will be hard to get them back into the team for the Championship run-in after injury lay-offs.
"Everyone is okay, we've train as normal preparing for Sheffield United," the former Bosnia midfielder said when asked about the health of his squad."
But there is better news on the horizon.
IMPROVING: Yu Hirakawa (Image: Tony King/Getty Images)placeholder image
IMPROVING: Yu Hirakawa (Image: Tony King/Getty Images)
"Maybe next week Ryan Giles will be in the roster, this is the target," he said. "Maybe Yu Hirakawa. He is with us, but not in group training. Maybe he will start group training from Monday, we will see.
"Regan Slater is still out. Darko (Gyabi), Akin (Famewo) and Elliot Matazo started to train with us from Wednesday.
"It's good news, but they've been a long time off the pitch.
"In the last five rounds it's very difficult to put somebody in the team.
CHOICES: Hull City coach Sergej Jakirovic (Image: Jonathan Gawthorpe)placeholder image
CHOICES: Hull City coach Sergej Jakirovic (Image: Jonathan Gawthorpe)
"I will give the advantage to healthy players who are in form. They've performed well in the last two games, especially Coventry.
"There is no need (at the moment to put them back into the XI), but you never know who will be the next one injured.
"It's good that they are back in training and then we will see day by day how they feel. Maybe they will get some minutes after in the next games."
On-loan Manchester United midfielder Toby Collyer showed what was possible, though, in a very impressive first start since November when he played on Easter Monday.
"His last game he started in November, which is great for him and for us.
"Now we need to be very careful with him because now it's a game again on Saturday. We will see if he will start the game or if he will come on after.
"This is my decision and we will decide tomorrow (Friday).
"He's had almost two days recovery. Today he trained normally so everything is good.
"I was thinking he would be available 45-50 minutes.
"When I looked at the pitch, he felt nice there. After 65-70 minutes, he started to feel tiredness, maybe cramps in the calves. That was the reason why we changed him.
"But this is normal because when he joined to us, he was 14 weeks off the pitch in West Brom. Before this game, I just made a decision that it's time to get him started."