McCann rules out January sales

Posted Monday, December 30, 2019 by PA

Hull manager Grant McCann has insisted there is no prospect of him losing his best players during next month’s transfer window.

Jackson Irvine’s late goal gave the Tigers a 2-1 victory at QPR – their seventh win in their past 13 matches.

It left them 12th in the Sky Bet Championship table, three points from the play-off places.

And McCann says Hull will be looking to buy rather than sell, despite speculation over the futures of the likes of Jarrod Bowen.

McCann declared: “If the bids comes in I know they won’t be going, it’s as simple as that. We’ve been told that.

“We’re not interested in selling in this window. We’re only interested in trying to strengthen this group to have a serious push for promotion.

“We need to bring one or two in just to give the group a bit of help. We’re churning the same players out every single week.

“We just need that bit of help, really to give the group a bit of a lift and for them to say ‘I need to up my game here because there’s serious competition’.”

Hull came from behind at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium, where Ilias Chair fired Rangers ahead in the 20th minute.

The visitors were gifted an equaliser when keeper Joe Lumley spilled Josh Bowler’s ball in from the right and George Honeyman was on hand to score his first for the club.

And Irvine wandered in unchallenged to nudge home Bowen’s free-kick – much to McCann’s delight.

“We’ve got severe injuries so the boys have really been outstanding to win seven games from the last 13,” McCann said.

“It’s an incredible effort with what we have. The boys have been phenomenal. I can’t speak highly enough of them.

“We want to try to keep on that level now where we’re on an upward scale.”

QPR manager Mark Warburton defended Lumley, who has made a number of errors this season.

Asked if he is now minded to recall fit-again keeper Liam Kelly, Warburton said: “I’m minded to treat every player the same. The trouble with a goalkeeper is that everything they do is highlighted.

“If a striker misses a chance or a centre-half misses a header it’s easier to say ‘no problem’.

“Joe has pulled off a couple of wonderful saves recently and has been very, very good.

“He had a tough time earlier. I made a change (by selecting Kelly) earlier in the season and that’s the right thing to do – to look after players and when I think the time is right, to change.

“You’ve got to be able to look any player in the eye and say ‘This is why I’m doing it. I’m doing it for these reasons’. They’re men and this is professional sport.

“It’s about what the right decision is for the team and for the player as well. So I look at every player after every game and think about what’s the right thing to do.”

But Warburton admitted there were “no excuses” for the manner in which his team conceded goals.

He said: “You lose the game to two ridiculously soft goals, which we can’t give away.

“We gave away a really soft goal and had to respond, which we did. But we didn’t put the ball in the back of the net. Then the second goal is unacceptable, simple as that.”