Hull City man set to miss out again during Middlesbrough clash

Hull City manager Shota Arveladze has confirmed striker Mallik Wilks will not feature when his side face Middlesbrough at The Riverside Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Last season saw Wilks run riot as Hull claimed the League One title, but this season has been a rather different story for the striker in the Championship.

The 23-year-old has scored just three goals and provided one assist in 20 league games for the Tigers, having been hampered by injuries for a significant period of the campaign.

Wilks last featured for Hull in their 3-0 win at Peterborough at the end of February, missing the five games that the club have played since then.

Now it seems as though the striker will also be out for a bit longer yet, judging by Arvelazde’s latest comments.

Providing an update on Wilks, the Tigers boss was quoted by The Hull Daily Mail as saying: “He’s been out for quite a long time when I arrived, I spoke to him two or three times.

“I thought we had a really good understanding but again, this is daily, we have to go every day, every session and game (and see what happens).

“Mallik’s a fantastic lad, a really good boy. I’m waiting for him to get really fit and I’ll talk to him, maybe, we need his energy and speed back.

“That’s what I’ve not seen yet. One week he was good, winter came back and he was ill again. It’s also luck, sometimes, it could help us both.

“It’s difficult for them to get back in shape. It is frustrating because you want everyone to be available and make your decisions tougher. He can play as the main striker, second striker, off the wing.

“With the body he has, if you get a tear in his thigh or his hamstring, it really pulls and I know this, my teammates experienced it before.

“When a player is quick and