Super Eagles and Hull City centre-back Semi Ajayi has revealed his fitness status after playing the full game against West Bromwich Albion yesterday evening, Soccernet.ng reports.
It was the first time the 32-year-old returned to the Harwthorns since exiting the Albions last summer, but this trip wasn't eventful.
Ajayi's side were trashed 0-3, as goals from Josh Maja, Aune Selland Heggebø, and Isaac Price took the sting out of Hull's pursuit of a play-off spot.
Semi Ajayi speaks on his first full game since the AFCON
The former Arsenal defender suffered a series of hamstring injuries last year, but was able to return just in time for Nigeria's AFCON 2025 campaign in Morocco.
Ajayi played six games as Eric Chelle's men sealed a third-place win against Egypt, but he clutched his thigh just before the final whistle went and has been out of action since then.
The lanky centre-back returned to action against Millwall before playing another 21 minutes against Wrexham. While the result against West Brom was poor, it was a step in the right direction for Ajayi's fitness.
“It is disappointing (to lose) at this stage of the season. Three points are massive, so to miss out on picking up three points today is not obviously what we planned for,” the ex-Rotherham United man said in quotes revealed by Hull City's official website.
“The game could have gone very differently in the first half. At nil-nil, we had two or three really good chances to score, and we didn’t take them, and then they went one-nil up, and it is a very different game.
“That is what the Championship is all about. You have to take your opportunities when you get them and also limit the opponent, and I think we gave them too many opportunities today.
“Fair play to them (West Brom). They are not in the greatest of positions in the league, but they have a lot of quality in their squad, and they capitalised on our misfortune when it came to the red card and the injury. It just wasn’t our day.
“I am feeling really good. It was my second 90 minutes, so I am getting back into the full swing of things and looking forward to pushing for the rest of the season,” explained Ajayi.
“We are looking forward to being back in front of our fans. There is no easy game in this league, so we won’t be taking it lightly,” added Ajayi ahead of facing Sheffield Wednesday.
“We need to be at the top of our game and make sure that we are to put this result behind us,” Ajayi concluded.
Hull City are still 5th in the EFL Championship, seven points behind Middlesbrough who occupy second place.
