Jakirovic on team news, expectations and international break

Hull City boss Sergej Jakirovic has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Newcastle at St James' Park (kick-off 15:00 BST). Here are the key lines from his news conference: Nobel Mendy will not feature because of concussion protocols, but "everything is fine" and he is "good". Matt Targett is a doubt after twisting his ankle. Hidemasa Morita is still out and Jakirovic said the "plan is he will join us after the first week of the international break". The Tigers boss said they are being "cautious" with Charlie Hughes but hopes he can join group training within the next two weeks. On the extended international break, the Hull boss said: "We have a lot of international players which we are very proud of that but from the other side it will be very busy for them." He said the club have organised a friendly against Sheffield United on 1 October. He was also asked about Oli McBurnie's recall to the Scotland squad and said: "I'm proud, he is already proud because you represent your country and this is the highest level of football and [I] just hope Oli and all the rest of the players come [back] healthy." The Tigers boss says his side have shown they "can compete at this level", even against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, which he says was a "very difficult game". He added: "I said I'm happy with one point even a lot of people told me that maybe we should [have] won this game but I want to be grateful because every point in every game, especially in these demanding away games, it's good for us. We will try to still be unbeaten but I'm expecting a very tough game especially after Newcastle's defeat at Leeds ." Jakirovic was asked whether he is enjoying "silencing the doubters" after their start to the season: "[There] will be always some doubters. We know our way, we know our style and we will try like always to improve some things... we will see after the end of this season. I hope we can continue like this." On keeping his players' feet on the ground, he added: "In every meeting we are speaking about expectation, about that we must stay on the ground, that we know our goal - to stay in the league no matter how many points we have because this season is a long season." Listen to full commentary of Newcastle United on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2 from 14:55 BST on Saturday Follow all of Thursday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news Got a question about Hull City? Get in touch here and we'll seek answers from our experts [BBC]