In a contest which is set to have massive ramifications at both ends of the league standings, playoff hopefuls Hull City will welcome relegation-threatened Birmingham City to the MKM Stadium on Tuesday night for a Championship encounter.
The Tigers shared the spoils at Preston North End on Saturday afternoon, whilst Blues came out on the losing side of a seven-goal thriller versus Premier League-chasing Southampton.
Match preview
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A victory at Deepdale against Preston on the weekend would have made it five-straight away wins for Hull for the first time since 1966, but Liam Rosenior's crop of 2023-24 were only able to grab a point against Ryan Lowe's men, who are knocking on the top-six door as the campaign approaches its business end.
Three successive wins over Rotherham United, Huddersfield Town and Southampton meant that the Tigers burst into the playoff positions, whilst back-to-back draws against West Bromwich Albion and Preston since have allowed the Humberside outfit to maintain control of the chasing pack.
With the visit of Enzo Maresca's Leicester City scheduled for Saturday afternoon, Hull's close-knit squad will be fully aware of how important Tuesday night's clash with Birmingham is for their promotion dreams, with the Tigers currently just a point ahead of seventh-placed Norwich City.
Although eye-catching displays in attack from the likes of Jaden Philogene and Fabio Carvalho have grabbed the headlines this season, Rosenior has overseen a transformation in Hull's defence since it was one of the leakiest in the Championship a couple of years ago, with centre-back Jacob Greaves enjoying a marvellous season alongside Alfie Jones.
The Tigers have already battled against Birmingham at the MKM Stadium during an FA Cup third-round clash on January 6, when Matty Jacob's first-ever goal for the club cancelled out a trademark header from Lukas Jutkiewicz, forcing a replay in the Second City 10 days later.
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In the standout match of the Championship weekend at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park, Birmingham were the victims of a last-gasp winner from Southampton substitute Joe Aribo as Blues' record under the interim leadership of Mark Venus extended to back-to-back defeats, leaving the Second City club in a full-scale relegation battle.
Blues found themselves 2-1 up at the half-time interval thanks to strikes from Koji Miyoshi and leading marksman Jay Stansfield, but Russell Martin's Saints rallied in the second period, with David Brooks and former Birmingham man Che Adams breaching the net of John Ruddy before Aribo handed the visitors the last laugh in the 94th minute.
Despite possessing a squad littered with second-tier talent from Ethan Laird in defence to Siriki Dembele in attack, a disastrous spell under Wayne Rooney and a patchy record since the arrival of Tony Mowbray means that Birmingham are fighting to avoid a maiden dip into League One since the early 1990s.
With Stoke City, Queens Park Rangers and Millwall all collecting maximum points on Saturday, Birmingham are now level on points with the bottom three despite sitting in 20th position, although Blues have played a game fewer than all of their relegation rivals at this stage of the term.
Venus's side would be in even graver danger of third-tier football if the league table was determined purely on away results, with Tuesday's visitors to the MKM Stadium earning just 11 points from 17 Championship outings so far - only bottom side Rotherham United (four) have managed fewer on their respective travels.
Team News
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Hull could be without the services of striker Aaron Connolly on Tuesday night, with the former Brighton & Hove Albion missing the Preston draw due to a dead leg.
Coupling the Irishman's potential absence, Liam Delap's knee injury and Billy Sharp's age, Rosenior could be forced to field Liverpool loanee Carvalho as a false nine once again.
Abdulkadir Omur was dropped from the Tigers' XI at Deepdale due to fatigue, but the 24-year-old could return to the hosts' midfield at the expense of Regan Slater.
Birmingham have run into serious selection problems at centre-back after Dion Sanderson's sending off on the weekend, paired with injuries to Krystian Bielik and Marc Roberts.
Although the latter could return in time for the trip to Hull, Blues could have to field a defensive duo of Emanuel Aiwu and right-back Cody Drameh.
Andre Dozzell and Paik Seung-ho are nailed on in the visitors' engine room as they attempt to transition into a team that dominates the ball, with the likes of Jordan James further advanced in the midfield.
Hull City possible starting lineup:
Allsopp; Coyle, Jones, Greaves, Giles; Morton, Seri, Zaroury, Carvalho, Philogene; Sharp
Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Ruddy; Laird, Drameh, Aiwu, Buchanan; Dozzell, Paik, Miyoshi, Bacuna, James; Stansfield
We say: Hull City 2-1 Birmingham City
After back-to-back draws, Hull will be desperate to return to winning ways against Birmingham ahead of Leicester's visit to the MKM Stadium on the weekend.
Blues' tricky run of fixtures ends with a trip to the home of the Tigers on Tuesday night, when we think that the visitors could drop into the bottom three.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Carter White
