Grant McCann believes that Hull City have really missed Jordy De Wijs recently, a player the Tigers boss thinks is the best defender in the Championship.

De Wijs has been a real consistent performer for the club so far this campaign under McCann, with the 25-year-old offering a real reliable presence at the heart of Hull’s defence in his 26 Championship appearances so far.

The defender, though, has missed the last few matches for Hull with a calf injury, and that has culminated in a dip in form for the Tigers, with McCann’s side losing their last three Championship matches and shipping five goals in their defeat at home to Brentford .

And, it means they have now failed to win the last ten fixtures that the Dutchman has missed.

Speaking to the Hull Daily Mail, McCann suggested that the Tigers were always going to miss a player of De Wijs’ ability, and that he believes there is no better centre-back in the league than the 25-year-old.

"He’s a miss because for me he’s the best centre-back in the league. That’s what I would say. He’s the best in the Championship in his position. That’s not a gripe on (Ryan) Tafazolli or (Sean) McLoughlin. They’re excellent at what they do. But you could ask anyone in this league and Jordy would be right up there. He is a miss."

The verdict

This is certainly a bold claim by McCann, with the Championship containing many quality defenders, but the Hull manager is probably right to have the sort of belief he does in De Wijs’ ability given the defender’s performances for the Tigers.

It is no surprise that Hull’s form has suffered a dip since De Wijs has been ruled out through injury and that just highlights how vital he is to the team.

Last time out against Brentford, Hull’s defence was run ragged and looked really disjointed and unorganised at times, which is something that you would not expect to see happen when De Wijs is playing.

It might be a stretch to day that De Wijs is the best defender in the Championship, but he is certainly up there and is definitely amongst the most important in terms of his overall impact on the side he is playing for, and McCann will hope to have him back fit and firing very soon.