Ola Aina Confident Hull City Will Stay In The Championship Next Season
Ola Aina who is on-loan from Chelsea has no doubts Hull City will still be a Championship club next season after a six-point lead over the relegation zone was maintained thanks to a 0-0 draw with Aston Villa.
The Tigers produced an encouraging response to their 3-0 defeat at relegation rivals Birmingham City before the international break as they denied Steve Bruce a winning return to the KCOM Stadium.
Aston Villa side chasing promotion back to the Premier League struggled to test City goalkeeper Allan McGregor and was made to hang on as Nigel Adkins’ side enjoyed the better of the second half.
Hul City with 40 points so far this season is 18th on the Championship log ahead of a trip to league leaders Wolves tonight but Ola Aina is giving no thought to the threat of relegation as the season draws to a conclusion.
“I feel confident in the team and I have belief in the team that we can stay up,” said the on-loan right-back.
“The team are confident as well. No one has really got it in their mind that we could go down.
“We’re all good players and I’m sure everyone’s mindset is focused on us staying up. For sure, that’s what we’re going to do.”
Just seven games now remain and Hull City’s six-point advantage, effectively places them firmly in control of their own destiny and they also have a superior goal advantage to bank on.
“The Birmingham game wasn’t the greatest obviously but we’ve had a break and come back fully charged,” said Aina.
“Every time we play there’s a discussion afterward, we don’t just sweep it under the rug. We discuss it and make sure we do things to resolve it. Home or away, we have to play well. If we do that then we stay up.
“We knew Villa were a good side and it would be tough but we felt like we could have taken all three points. It wasn’t meant to be but it was a good performance and the team is happy with it.”
Saturday’s 0-0 draw means Hull City have now conceded just five goals from open play in their last nine games and the key to the latest clean-sheet was captain Michael Dawson.
The former England international was the man-of-the-match in the Tigers defense and earned the praise of Aina, who made his own improvements at right-back.
“It’s been good with Daws,” he added. “He’s a leader on the pitch and off it, he’s our captain and it’s all right. I’ve enjoyed it vastly. He’s helped me a lot. He’s a good pro and you can see that in everything he does.
“If you’re not up to standards, he’ll tell you. He doesn’t moan but he tells you. He keeps me on my toes throughout the game and that helps for a young lad like me.”
