Hull's Belloumi Finally Back from Injury Hell - Just Don't Expect Miracles
After a season that would make a medical textbook blush, Mohamed Belloumi is back in Hull City's starting XI. The question now is whether his hamstrings will hold up long enough to matter.
If Mohamed Belloumi's body were a car, it would have been written off by the insurance company months ago. Yet somehow, Hull City's much-maligned winger has dragged himself back from what can only be described as an injury crisis worthy of its own documentary series.
The Algerian's return to something resembling peak form has been about as smooth as a Sunday league pitch in February. Last season's ACL rupture - one of three suffered by Hull players, because why do things by halves - was just the opening act in what became a masterclass in medical misfortune.
September brought a hamstring injury that kept him out for two months, followed by another hamstring setback at Christmas because apparently the festive spirit doesn't extend to muscle fibres. By the time mid-March rolled around, Belloumi had spent more time in the treatment room than some players spend in training.
But credit where it's due - the winger finally marked his first start since Boxing Day with a goal on Good Friday, proving that resurrection isn't just for Easter Sunday. It's the kind of comeback story that would warm the cockles of any football romantic's heart, assuming they haven't been completely numbed by years of Championship mediocrity.
Of course, this being Hull City, the feelgood factor didn't last long. Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Bramall Lane against Sheffield United served as a timely reminder that one player's return, however welcome, doesn't solve everything. The Tigers will now be managing Belloumi's minutes like a particularly precious piece of china, desperate to keep their resurrected winger in one piece for the run-in.
The irony isn't lost that Hull's injury-prone star has finally found his feet just as the season enters its crucial phase. Whether his hamstrings have got the memo about staying intact remains to be seen, but for now, Tigers fans can at least enjoy having one of their key players back on the pitch rather than on the physio's table.
It's a small mercy in what's been a season of learning to expect the worst and somehow still being disappointed. But in the Championship's relentless pursuit of the unpredictable, maybe that's exactly the kind of against-the-odds story that could spark something special. Or maybe those hamstrings will ping again next week. This is Hull City, after all.