The popular midfielder hasn’t been himself in the early weeks of the season but he’ll hope a corner has been turned
Regan Slater admits he was fuming to have been left out of Tim Walter’s starting XI at Stoke City on Friday night but says he responded in the perfect manner by scoring the second goal in a 3-1 win.
By his own admission, Slater hasn’t been at his best this season as he looks to get to grips with a big change in approach under Walter compared with former boss Liam Rosenior, and felt he was deservedly left out of the team against his boyhood – and former club – Sheffield United earlier this month.
Having taken the knock of being dropped to the bench against the Blades, Slater felt he came on and made a big impact and deserved to start in the Potteries.
That didn’t happen, and instead, Slater had to settle for a place on the bench coming off it just before the hour mark with City losing 1-0 at the bet365 Stadium, and his arrival sparked a major turnaround with the 25-year-old right at the heart of it.
City pulled level five minutes after Slater’s arrival when Kasey Palmer headed in after seeing his penalty kick repelled by goalkeeper Viktor Johansson, and with 13 minutes left to play, Slater latched onto Liam Millar’s precise ball to fire into the net to cap a terrific turnaround, before Palmer’s cross squirmed into the net to make it three and kill the game off quickly.
It was Slater’s first goal in more than a year, and second in as many trips to Stoke, and the perfect riposte to being dropped by his manager, and now he hopes to return to the starting XI on Saturday when Cardiff City are the visitors to the MKM Stadium.
“I was fuming that I didn’t start (at Stoke),” a refreshingly honest Slater told Hull Live. “The Sheff United one, I thought it was fair enough to be honest with you.
“I don’t think my performances have been quite where I want them, so it is what it is, but after coming on against Sheff United, I thought I did well when I came on. I was expecting to be playing (at Stoke). Obviously I wasn’t, so then all I can do from that is make an impact when I come on the pitch, and that’s what I did.”
Slater admits stamping his feet and making a fuss wasn’t the right way to go about showing his displeasure, so instead let his football do the talking on the pitch when he was given his chance.
“Yeah, definitely. I don’t think that’s any good for anyone you know, I still want what’s best for the lads that I’m with day in, day out, because like I said, three points mean a lot to us, so I’ll give my bit to helping the team.”
The Tigers will now go into Saturday’s home clash with Cardiff City at the MKM Stadium, their final home outing for three weeks with renewed confidence, and Slater’s response to being asked if he expects to be back on the team sheet was clear. “Yes, absolutely.”
