Harambee Stars prospect suffers injury setback at Hull City after returning from one-year layoff

Hull City manager Sergej Jakirovic says the club will assess Harambee Stars prospect Eliot Matazo after the midfielder withdrew from the squad during their warm-up just before the Under-21 side’s 2–2 draw with Sheffield United U21 on Tuesday.

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Matazo was named in the starting lineup and was expected to play for an hour, but he had to withdraw after feeling discomfort in his quadriceps during the warm-ups.

Hull opted not to take any risks with the Kenyan-eligible midfielder, especially as he is still carefully managing his comeback more than a year after suffering a serious ACL injury in Cardiff last February.

The 23-year-old only returned to action last week, playing 30 minutes for the club’s development side at Peterborough United’s training ground. He was later named on the bench for Hull’s first-team match against Millwall but did not feature.

Tuesday’s fixture had been scheduled as the next step in his recovery, with the plan for Matazo to play around 60 minutes before potentially being considered for involvement in the senior squad against West Bromwich Albion this weekend. However, the latest setback has now raised concern at the club.

In Matazo’s absence, another Kenyan prospect, Sammy-Henia Kamau, scored in stoppage time to rescue a point for Hull in the 2–2 draw.

Jakirović confirmed the club will now wait for medical checks to determine the extent of the issue.

"He felt his quadriceps during the warm-up. We decided that it’s better not to play, and then after the medical check tomorrow (Wednesday), we will see if it’s damaged or just a reaction,” the Hull manager said.

Only last week, Jakirović had expressed delight at having Matazo back in contention but stressed the club would ease him back gradually.

“I like Eliot because he has no fear. He isn’t afraid to challenge or go in with the ball, even in a 50/50 situation,” he said.

“Everything is going according to plan. The aim was to give him more minutes and build him up step by step. He’s a very good player, and we are buzzing to have him back.”