Phelan fears for Hull

Caretaker manager Mike Phelan admits Hull will struggle to compete in the Premier League due to a lack of players.

The Tigers have been hit by a string of injury problems during the off-season and head into Saturday's Premier League opener with just 13 fit senior players.

Their transfer plans have been hit by the uncertainty surrounding the club's ownership and the lack of a permanent manager - Steve Bruce resigned just three weeks ahead of the new season - and Phelan admits they are not in a position to compete against Leicester on the opening day of the campaign.

"I would say no, simply because of the injuries - and the injuries are not short term," Phelan told his pre-match press conference.

"Most of them are longer term than we expected. It's a small squad, but small squads before have worked well together.

"There definitely need to be additions to this football club."

Phelan is hoping to bring in some new players before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.

"At the moment it is all purely picking up the phones, speaking to people and trying to find the targets," he said.

"(We're chasing) new targets because people we went for earlier in the pre-season have now moved on and gone to other clubs.

"We have to start again, I know it's a short window, the pressure is on now to do some business."

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