Blues boss Paul Jewell says new signing Jimmy Bullard may not be fit enough to go straight into his starting line-up for Saturday’s home fixture against Leeds United. The 32-year-old hasn’t played a game since Town’s final Portman Road match of last season against Preston.
Jewell said: "Jimmy hasn’t played a lot of football. He’s been away from Hull for four weeks now. We’ll have to assess Jimmy’s fitness in training.
"There’s no guarantee he’ll go straight in. If he’s fit enough he’ll have a chance, but we’ll have to wait and see how he comes through in the next few days.”
Bullard himself admits he’s not 100% but says he’ll be fine once he’s back in the swing of things: "I’m 32 now but I feel as fit and as strong as ever.
"It was my first training session today and I was blowing a little bit, but I was bound to. Once I’ve got a few games under my belt, whether that’s in the first team or the reserves, I’ll start to feel a little bit better.
"I hope I play on Saturday, but that’s entirely up to the manager. That’s his decision. I’ve come here to play football and hopefully I’ll do that soon.”
The midfielder says the international games coming up after the weekend will benefit him: "This next couple of weeks are big for me. There’s a break next week, so I’ve got to get as fit as I can.
"I’ve not played a game since Preston last season, which is five months. I need to get as fit as I can and try to get ready as quickly as possible to play.”
Ultimately, Jewell is in no doubt that Bullard will prove to be an important signing: "He’s a character, he’ll fit in. When he first came here last year I think it took him quite a while to settle in, but after five minutes he was OK.
"I had Jimmy at Wigan and he missed one game in three years. I left him out at Chelsea and we had a row about that.
"But he doesn’t let anything seem to get him down. He’s an infectious character, he gets people going. He may drive you made at times, but he’s no shrinking violet, he’ll never hide. He wants the ball, he wants to get on it, sometimes in areas where you don’t want him to.
"He’s a little bit of a free spirit, but I think last year he came in and lifted the place. Hopefully with him and the other new signings can have the same effect.”
One player whose fitness Jewell isn’t concerned about is Ibrahima Sonko: "You should see the condition that he’s in. I saw him play on Tuesday [in the reserves] and he’s trained quite a bit with Reading. I know it’s not like a first team game, but he came through that well and looking at him as a specimen, he’s a man mountain!
"He’s only 30, but he’s been around, he played at Reading and I think he went to Stoke for £3 million.
"He’s big, he’s powerful and he throws it further than I can kick it, which is a weapon. He’s strong and he’ll get better, I’m sure. Everyone knows we just lack that little bit of power and know-how at the back, and hopefully he can bridge that gap.”
Town’s third new signing Daryl Murphy hadn’t featured for Celtic in a competitive game this campaign but was involved in pre-season for the SPL giants and may well be handed his second Town debut against Leeds.