The Tigers will be without one of their starting defenders in the capital on Saturday

Matt Targett and Nobel Mendy have handed Hull City boss Sergej Jakirovic a double blow ahead of Saturday's trip to bottom-side Fulham in the Premier League.

Targett missed Sunday's thrilling 2-2 draw with Everton after twisting his ankle in training, and while the former Newcastle United left-back doesn't require surgery, he's still expected to be sidelined for around two months.

Senegal international Mendy, the club's record signing, has tweaked a groin and will be missing for the next couple of weeks, according to Jakirovic.

There's better news with regard to Mohamed-Ali Cho and Lucas Gourna-Douath, who also missed last weekend's meeting with David Moyes' side.

Neither will be fit to be in the squad against the Cottagers, but it's expected they will return to full training at Cottingham on Monday with a view to being involved on Sunday week at home to in-form Brentford.

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Charlie Hughes was back on the grass on Thursday and has received a boost in his bid to return from an ongoing groin problem, and, providing he continues to make progress, could return to training after the international break, while Jack Butland is a month-and-a-half ahead of schedule and is due to return to group training next week.

Given the Tigers signed quite a few players that missed chunks of pre-season, like Targett, Jakirovic said it's little surprise some of his men are picking up niggles and strains. "Two months out without surgery, which is good," Jakirovic told Hull Live when asked about Targett.

"He's good, but when you miss pre-season, and you're struggling with everything, and now you're struggling with small injuries (it isn't a surprise). This is not a small injury, and he did do this by himself. He twisted the ankle by himself without contact, without anything. Now he has to stay positive, do his rehab, and we will see. Mendy is out of this game because he felt his groin, so he will be out for two weeks.

"He's (Gourna-Douath) better, but there is something in his calf. It was a good decision to spare him against Everton, and next week he will start to train with us. He (Gourna-Douath) will miss the game at Fulham, and Mohamed-Ali Cho will also miss that game. He will join us on Monday."

For a player so instrumental in last season's success, not kicking a ball since the first week of pre-season has come as a major setback for Hughes, but Jakirovic says the powerful defender is feeling more positive.

"He's positive," the Croatian said of Hughes. "He's good. I think after the international break, he will join us in the group. This is our target. It's harsh (the layoff)," Jakirovic continued. "He's been out for almost five months, so we will see, but step by step. First, he needs to join us, so we will see after the group training what's going on.

"Ansah did one more scan, and there's slight progress or healing to be better, but not so much as we expected. I don't know how many weeks, so I can say the same situation as before. Jack Butland is on the grass individually, and on Monday, he will start to train with the group, which is good. It's almost one-and-a-half months early."