Duo a doubt for Tigers

Posted Sunday, May 09, 2010 by PA

Hull are likely to be without Jimmy Bullard and Caleb Folan for Sunday's final Premier League game against Liverpool at the KC Stadium.

Bullard missed last week's 2-2 draw against Wigan, which confirmed their relegation, with an ankle problem and has not yet returned to training while Folan has a knee injury.

Rookies Will Atkinson and Mark Cullen are likely to keep their places after netting at the DW Stadium, with Kamil Zayatte, Ian Ashbee, Richard Garcia (all knee) and Stephen Hunt (foot) all long-term casualties.

Boss Iain Dowie believes the performances of the youngsters should give fans some much-needed hope for the future.

"The young boys have come in and shown what they're about," he said.

"Probably Will Atkinson was the one that raised eyebrows but he was picked on merit. What he gives you is a youthful enthusiasm and he seems to arrive where the ball is, which is a great habit to have.

"He's got goals (on loan) at Rochdale and we were seriously lacking in goals. Mark Cullen's got goals at youth-team level. They've continued that last week and it almost brought us a very big result.

"It didn't quite happen but this is something we want to build on. There were some positive moments for the future of the club."

Liverpool midfielder Maxi Rodriguez is unlikely to recover from a thigh problem in time.

The Argentina international came off in last week's 2-0 defeat to Chelsea and is a major doubt, as is right-back Glen Johnson who missed that game with a calf injury.

Central defender Jamie Carragher is hopeful of recovering from a twisted ankle to face the Tigers to play in his 435th league match, surpassing the record of former captain Alan Hansen, and his 629th Liverpool game overall.