The out-of-favour Irishman returned from a month's loan at Oxford United earlier this week with an ankle injury but has decided to put off having an operation and will play through the pain. The news is a boost for Cumbrians boss Paul Simpson, who is already resigned to being without Kevin Henderson for up to 8 weeks. Henderson injured his ankle ligaments in training and has been told to rest for a week before getting back to full fitness. Foran is unlikely to start the game as Simpson is expected to continue with Andy Preece and Matt Fryatt up front, although Craig Farrell continues to stake a claim after coming off the bench to great effect in recent weeks. Fryatt's second month on loan expires after Tuesday night's game at Cambridge and Simpson will be anxious to keep him for another month after the Henderson injury setback. Simpson himself and Peter Murphy were rated doubts after picking up head colds this week, but both are expected to be passed fit. Mark Summerbell played for the reserves in their 4-1 midweek win at Macclesfield but is still feeling his way back after several months out. Des Byrne and Paul Raven are both still on the sidelines. For Hull, Stuart Green is sure to get a hot reception from the home crowd for his first visit to Brunton Park since the acrimonious split with United at the back end of last season. Green came on loan with a view to a permanent move but was accused by ex-boss Roddy Collins of negotiating a return to Hull behind his back. He was thrown off the team bus as it was about to set off for Torquay and Cumbrian-born Green has since re-established himself as a member of the Tigers first team squad. City will be missing injured Jason Price but Ian Ashbee is hopeful of playing despite an Achilles problem. Jon Walters, who made a scoring debut in this fixture last season when Hull won 5-1, is likely to come back into the starting XI. Club officials are still hopeful of a bumper attendance this afternoon despite the news that Hull have failed to sell their full allocation of 1,800 tickets. About 700 remained unsold yesterday and none will be available today. United need to attract 10,023 fans to reach the 10 million mark in total league attendances since they joined the Football League in 1928. Picture from News & Star |
