The latest on Tim Iroegbunam's Hull City fitness as Everton reunion update drops

Tim Iroegbunam's Hull City will welcome Everton to the MKM Stadium after the international break.

Sergej Jakirovic's side sit eighth in the Premier League after five games, with their start to the season taking many by surprise.

The Tigers signed Iroegbunam from Everton in the summer after he struggled to carve out a key role on Merseyside.

Indeed, the 23-year-old played 31 times for the Toffees in all competitions last season, but started only 17 league games.

Now at the stage of his career where being a regular starter is key to his development, Iroegbunam backed himself to go and be that with Hull.

But as the Tigers prepare to host the Toffees on 11 October, the midfielder may have to see his Everton reunion party delayed.

Why might Tim Iroegbunam be forced to take serious injury action?

Iroegbunam joined Hull in the summer, but not before the deal almost fell through.

This was because he'd picked up an injury problem in mid-August which threatened to see him either fail a medical, or Hull potentially backing out from the transfer.

Thankfully for both parties, neither of those things happened, and Iroegbunam completed his move to the newly-promoted outfit.

However, a fresh report from Hull Live on Monday has revealed that Iroegbunam has now re-aggravated that existing groin problem.

As such, it's now claimed he's set to miss the majority of October, which would of course see him unable to play against Everton.

If Iroegbunam can't shake this issue off, then he may need to look into having surgery in an attempt to permanently fix this groin problem.

But why could his next potential chance to turn out against his former side be hugely consequential for both Hull and Everton?

When is Everton and Hull's reverse Premier League fixture this season?

Given how early it still is in the season, Iroegbunam's Everton reunion subplot was perhaps a relatively minor one next month.

Nothing will be decided in terms of final league position depending on the outcome of October's clash between these two.

That's unlikely to be the case when Everton host Hull in the reverse fixture later this season, however.

David Moyes' side take on the Tigers at Hill Dickinson Stadium on 8 May, which is matchday 35 of 38.

So, if Iroegbunam is fit then, the return of the ex-Toffee could hold far greater storytelling weight with final league standings firmly on the line.