The EFL play-offs begin on Friday night, with Hull City and Millwall, two of the season’s surprise packages, competing for a place at Wembley.

Both teams have far outperformed expectations this season, with Millwall leading the automatic promotion fight all the way to the final day and Hull remaining in the top six for the majority of the season despite being predicted to struggle pre-season.

Hull has been out of the Premier League for nine years, having last advanced through the play-offs in the 2015/16 season. Millwall is making their first appearance in the second-tier play-offs since 2001/02, while the Lions have not played in the top division since 1989/90.

So it’s a huge opportunity for two sides that haven’t tasted top-flight glory in a long time to get within one step of the Premier League, and both will be eager to build an advantage ahead of Monday’s second game.

Unfortunately, these nine players will not be fit or available to do so.

Eliot Matazo

Eliot Matazo suffered a severe ACL injury in the first ten minutes of Hull’s penultimate game of the season at Charlton Athletic.

It was his first game back for the Tigers since February 2025, when he had the identical injury to his other knee.

Hull will be hopeful that the Belgian will be back on the field in less than 14 months, although he will be out for several months.

David Akintola

Following Matazo’s injury, Sergej Jakirovic was asked in his pre-match press conference if David Akintola might be re-registered into the EFL squad ahead of the play-offs to provide some extra depth in the midfield and wide positions.

Unfortunately, the Bosnian boss responded, “I think it’s not possible.”

Toby Collyer

Toby Collyer, who is on loan at Manchester United, has had a particularly rough season. The 22-year-old failed to earn game time at West Brom in the first part of the season due to selection troubles and injury concerns, which have followed him to Hull.

Collyer has started just one game for the Tigers, a 0-0 draw against Coventry City on Easter Monday, but hasn’t played since, suffering an ankle injury in training shortly after.

While the injury report indicated that he could return for the playoffs, Sergej Jakirovic did not specify whether or not he is back in training.

Amir Hadziahmetovic

Amir Hadziahmetovic, on loan from Besiktas, will not play for Hull again this season after injuring his knee in a 1-1 draw with Birmingham City at the MKM Stadium last month.

Jakirovic stated that the 29-year-old Bosnian international need surgery for the injury, but will attempt to repair the knee before this summer’s World Cup. Despite this, he stated that “the domestic season is over” for him.

Cody Drameh

Rounding out Hull’s injury news, right-back Cody Drameh is poised to miss the remainder of the season after suffering another quad injury in their 2-1 loss to Sheffield United last month.

The 24-year-old has been in and out of the team all season, but he had started four straight league games for the first time since the season’s first four games before being injured.

It will keep him out for six weeks, which isn’t too bad, but the timetable will exclude him from any play-off activity.

Caleb Taylor

The good news from the Millwall camp is that line-leader Josh Coburn has returned to training and will be examined on Thursday before the trip to the MKM Stadium on Friday night.

Unfortunately, no such information has been provided for Caleb Taylor, who missed the last two games of the season due to a foot ailment.

The former West Brom centre-back has had an injury-plagued second half of the season, which is expected to continue into the early rounds of the play-offs.

Lukas Jensen

Lukas Jensen, Millwall’s number one, has been out of the first team since injuring his Achilles last April.

Despite playing well in the meantime, Max Crocombe was expected to return to the side in 2026, but a quad injury sustained in December while working on his conditioning with the Under-21s has kept him out for the foreseeable future.

Millwall recruited Anthony Patterson on loan from Sunderland in January for the remainder of the season, and he has performed admirably in goal since.

Massimo Luongo

Massimo Luongo, a former Ipswich Town midfielder, had his season cut short in October after rupturing his ACL during a game over QPR.

Given the importance the 33-year-old Australian played in Ipswich’s promotion to the Premier League a few years ago, Millwall would have preferred to have someone with his expertise on the field for major games like these, but he will have to watch from the stands.

Dan Kelly

Dan Kelly threatened a breakout season in the heart of Millwall’s midfield earlier this season, as the 20-year-old made his first three league starts for the club in late 2025, filling in for other absences in the position.

However, the former Celtic starlet suffered a hamstring injury in December, forcing him to miss the remainder of the season.