adminHull City are expected to be without defender Nobel Mendy when they travel to St James’ Park next Saturday to face Newcastle United.
Mendy was named in the starting lineup for the Tigers during their Premier League clash with Chelsea on Saturday, but his afternoon ended prematurely after he suffered a worrying blow to the head during the second half.
The Senegalese centre-back was attempting to reach the ball ahead of Chelsea forward Joao Pedro when the pair appeared to collide heads. Mendy came off considerably worse from the challenge, immediately hitting the ground close to Konstantinos Tzolakis’ goal.
Hull goalkeeper Tzolakis and Mo Belloumi quickly rushed over to check on the defender, with both players visibly concerned about his condition. They called for the medical team, who eventually helped Mendy back to his feet before escorting him around the pitch and into the tunnel for further assessment.
Hull City manager Sergej Jakirovic provided a concerning update after the incident, admitting that the club suspected Mendy had suffered a concussion.
“Not good,” Jakirovic said when asked about the defender’s condition. “We think he has concussion. He went to the hospital and after head scan we will know more.”
The Hull boss subsequently confirmed that Mendy would definitely miss next weekend’s trip to Tyneside. However, the timing of the upcoming international break could work in the defender’s favour and potentially limit his absence to just one match.
Lucas Herrington came on to replace Mendy through a concussion substitution. The change also allowed Hull City to make six substitutions during the match under the concussion replacement rules.
Herrington is now expected to be the leading candidate to replace Mendy against Newcastle. The Australian could slot into the left side of a back three, alongside John Egan and Semi Ajayi.
The Tigers could head into their trip to the North East level on points with Newcastle if they manage to defeat Leeds United in their Monday night fixture.
For now, however, Hull will be hoping that Mendy makes a full recovery after what appeared to be a nasty head collision, with the results of his assessment expected to provide a clearer indication of when he can return to action.
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