The £50,000 signing continues to impress in the early weeks of the Premier League campaign

Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic has paid tribute to midfielder Regan Slater after the influential star passed 300 appearances in his career on Sunday.

An impressive 241 of those 300 games have come for City since he first arrived on loan from Sheffield United in 2020, surpassing 200 last term.

Slater shone again in the heart of the Tigers' midfield against Brentford as he clocked up the milestone, coming at the age of 27, having firmly established himself as one of Sergej Jakirovic's key men.

A little over 12 months ago, the Gleadless-born man was some way down the pecking order in the Championship, but quickly established himself as one of Jakirovic's most trusted lieutenants.

Jakirovic highlighted how, when Slater was missing at the back end of the season, after picking up an injury against Sheffield Wednesday in March, City failed to win any of the four games he sat out.

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Slater then returned to the starting line-up for the final-day win over Norwich City, which secured a place in the play-offs, and then he began both the semi-final and final.

"I think since Preston, when he came on at half-time, he's been in the first eleven," the Croatian told Hull Live. "Just because of an injury, he didn't play, and you remember after Sheffield Wednesday at home when he got an injury, and somebody told me that I have a lot of options.

"I said we will see. Then for six games we didn't win, and then he came back against Norwich (final day of the season), we won the game, which is very important."

Despite signing players for big money, like Tim Iroegbunam, Jens Hjerto-Dahl, along with Lucas Gourna-Douath and Hidemasa Morita, Slater has started all eight games in the Premier League.

"I think his biggest quality is that he can adapt to every competition. If he's in League One, the Championship or the Premier League, he will improve, he will adapt, he will play," Jakirovic continued.

"He's playing now in the Premier League like he's been there for 10 years. That's his biggest quality, also his mentality and character. In every training session, Regan gives one hundred per cent."