"Absolute no-brainer" - Claim made on Jacob Greaves amid "disjointed" Hull City displays | OneFootball

FLW has quizzed our City fan pundit as to whether Greaves' services have been missed in HU3

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Hull City's start to life under Tim Walter hasn't exactly gone to plan, with the Tigers currently sat in the lower reaches of mid table after a quarter of the season.

The off-season saw numerous changes made in the dugout and on the pitch, with players who had significantly impressed under Liam Rosenior sold, or in other cases, had returned to their parent clubs in the Premier League.

Among the likes of Jaden Philogene, Tyler Morton, Fabio Carvalho and Liam Delap, Jacob Greaves also fell into said category, joining the aforementioned Delap at Portman Road as Ipswich Town embarked on their first Premier League campaign in 22 years.

And, now ample time has passed to assess their respective starts to the new campaign, Football League World put the question to one of our Hull City fan pundits, Ryan Frankish, as to whether the Tigers miss the services of their homegrown centre-back.

Hull City have struggled defensively since Jacob Greaves' departure

Despite the additions that were made in the summer to City's rearguard, which included the capture of the impressive Charlie Hughes from Wigan Athletic for £3.5m to replace Greaves, Frankish believes that both parties have struggled following the £15m+ fee which saw him become a Premier League player after being included in the Championship's Team of the Season.

"I think, missing Jacob Greaves is an absolute no-brainer, because we're evidently leaking goals," he began.

"Short answer, yes (Hull are missing Greaves), long answer, it always happens, doesn't it? I think it's about how you progress, and I think we did progress well with Charlie Hughes," our fan pundit added.

"It would have been nice to keep Greaves. And, I'm sure at times that Greaves is maybe counting his chickens when Ipswich are getting stuffed every week. I don't know."

"It's looking as much of a tough season for him as it has been for us," Frankish continued. "I think he looks more-than comfortable in the Premier League."

"The story's going to pan out how it's going to pan out. But, the start (to life without each other) hasn't been ideal for both parties."

"The short answer is, yes, I think we do miss Greaves, that's evident in how disjointed we look."

He concluded : "But, since Charlie Hughes has come in to replace Sean McLoughlin, I think we've seen a lot more stability at the back."

Jacob Greaves' start to life in the Premier League

You'd be extremely hard-pressed to find a City fan who didn't wish Greaves well on his top-flight venture with the Tractor Boys, and no one was less surprised when the defender put in a stellar individual performance on the opening day of the season against Liverpool.

Greaves and Ipswich's strongest defensive display yielded their only clean sheet of the season to-date against Brighton on September 14th, with Kieran McKenna's side finding it tough at the start of the campaign as they remain winless after their first 10 games.

Furthermore, Greaves' last appearance came on October 5th in a 4-1 away defeat to West Ham United at the London Stadium, a week after his attempt to play out from the back against Aston Villa directly led to Morgan Rogers' equaliser at Portman Road.

Since then, McKenna has opted to utilise Luke Woolfenden and Cameron Burgess alongside each other or Dara O'Shea, with Greaves left on the bench in the three games which followed the October international break.

However, there is still plenty of time for the former Tiger to turn his form around in East Anglia, and being under contract for the next five years showcases the potential which many expect him to fulfil.