The striker is struggling with an Achilles problem picked up in last weekend’s Capital One Cup tie against Rotherham United and is giving manager Steve Bruce cause for concern.
“Matty’s got a bit of an Achilles injury at the moment and he’s not comfortable with it,” said Bruce.
“We’ve got one or two other issues at the moment as well which we hope will iron themselves out, but that’s where we are at the moment.”
Bruce will at least be able to add Corry Evans to his options after the Northern Ireland international returned to training this week having missed most of pre-season with a hamstring problem, and Seyi Olofinjana could also be added to the squad. Andy Dawson looks set to remain sidelined with a thigh problem.
Sone Aluko’s competitive debut for the club looks set to be delayed again with international clearance still to be granted following his summer departure from Rangers and although paperwork has now been completed to give goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic the green light to start his competitive Tigers career, that start could be held up by a hamstring problem he picked up in training today.