HULL CITY head coach Liam Rosenior admits he is currently spoilt for choice as the Tigers’ season remains competitive moving into the last two games of the Championship season.
City preserved their hopes of making the play-offs with a thrilling 3-2 victory over rivals Coventry City on Wednesday, an evening when both sides knew they needed to win to keep their realistic chances of finishing in the top six.
Rosenior’s decision to promote Noah Ohio to the bench paid off, as the loanee scored with his first touch of the game in the 78th minute, charging down an attempted clearing from Sky Blues goalie Brad Collins.
Hull’s win brought them within three points of Norwich City and West Brom, who occupy the final two play-off berths.
Norwich host Swansea City on Saturday, while Albion travel to Sheffield Wednesday, with Hull hoping for a favour from their Yorkshire rivals.
Another White Rose side, Leeds United, will be firmly in Hull’s corner on Saturday evening when they visit the Whites’ main top-two opponents, Ipswich Town.
The Tigers conclude the regular season on Saturday against Plymouth Argyle.
Ohio was chosen over Aaron Connolly for the bench at the CBS Arena, with Rosenior facing the appropriate selection quandaries at this point in the season.
Rosenior, whose team has gone five games unbeaten, stated: “It was entirely selection. I made various decisions, and Greg Docherty was also out, but his character represents us all.
“It’s very difficult to select a bench when we have a (almost) totally fit group. It’s difficult for me to select the ideal tactical players for each game right now.”
Rosenoir said that Ohio’s strike, when he charged down Collins’ clearing following a ball back to him from Coventry defender Bobby Thomas, exemplified the team’s toughness, desire, and guts.
“I think Noah is someone I definitely recommend. He has a lot of potential. Again, he is only 21 and has no prior experience with first-team football in England.We’ve been working extremely hard with him in training, and we had a fantastic talk with him about the small aspects and how we can improve.
“What I have to say is that he earned his spot in the squad via his training performances over the last few days, and I had a really good feeling about Noah, so I included him, and he proved us right.
“Not only did he score the goal, but he also held it up and was in the perfect position at all times. That was an excellent performance from the bench, with Ozan Tufan racing back down the left channel to block a cross in the final few minutes.
“There was a real selflessness about my group, regardless of who started and who was on the bench and we are going to need everyone between now and the end of the season.”
Anass Zaroury, a loan winger, will be assessed before of Saturday’s encounter.
Rosenior continued, “I don’t know, we will see.”
