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Hull City to field fringe squad against SportPesa All Stars


Hull City will field a mixed line-up comprising both first team players and those from the development teams for Monday’s friendly match against Kenya’s SportPesa All Stars.

Andrew Stead, the Hull City Tigers’ Partnerships Executive, who was actively involved in the selection of the 18 players for the friendly, told Nation Sport on Wednesday that there will be “just a few” first team members in the Hull City team that will play All Stars at the KCOM stadium on Monday.

“The team selection is really up to the coach, but there will definitely be a few players from the first team there. We, however, expect that a number of the first team will be rested for that match to give room for the younger players from the lower age group teams.

“There is no reason to worry, really, because it is only a promotional match and so the players’ performance will also be friendly,” he said with a slight chuckle after receiving the first batch of the travelling party which included team manager Neville Pudo and physiotherapist Wycliffe Omom and assistant coach Patrick Naggi.

The rest of the contingent left Nairobi early Wednesday morning, and were expected to touch down at the Heathrow Airport in London at 5.30pm.

LOCAL-BASED PLAYERS

After that, they will make the four-hour trip to Kingston Upon Hull by road in readiness for the friendly match against the English Premier League strugglers.

The All Stars team is made up of local-based players drawn from teams that featured in the SportPesa Premier League last year.

The 18 were part of a larger team of 47 players which was culled down in January (over a period of two weeks) by four Hull City coaches Richard O’Donnelle, Daniel O’Keeffe, Terry Boyle and Dean Windass.

The quartet was actively involved in the week-long training session at Kasarani, and were helped in making the final selection by Harambee Stars coach Stanley Okumbi and Pudo.

The match against Hull City Tigers will be played at 10pm EAT on February 27 at the KCOM Stadium in Hull, and a return match has been scheduled for July this year at Kasarani.

On Sunday at Kasarani, the team drew 0-0 with newly promoted premier league side Kariobangi Sharks in a friendly match.