Luke Williams will continue his search for a first Championship victory as Swansea City manager on Saturday, when his side travel to take on Hull City.
The hosts currently sit sixth in the Championship table and will bid to strengthen their playoff bid, while the Swans now find themselves 17th on the back of three straight defeats.
Match preview
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Hull City return to the MKM Stadium on Saturday aiming to give their Championship playoff hopes a further boost, having added to an impressive season with a pleasing return to form in recent weeks.
From their opening 29 games this term, Liam Rosenior's side have accumulated 45 points, picking up 13 wins along the way while suffering 10 defeats, with four of those coming in a five-match span across late December and early January to harm their top-six bid as they fell at the hands of Bristol City, Sunderland, Sheffield Wednesday and Norwich City.
After seeing their momentum slowed around the festive period, the Tigers have since bounced back in impressive fashion and now head into the weekend on the back of consecutive wins, firstly following up the defeats to Sheffield Wednesday and Norwich and an FA Cup loss to Birmingham City with a 1-0 triumph away at playoff-rivals Sunderland thanks to Fabio Carvalho's second-half goal.
Then following a two-week break, Rosenior's men most recently welcomed Millwall to Yorkshire last Saturday and made it two three-point hauls in a row in England's second tier, picking up another 1-0 victory having stayed ahead throughout after Jaden Philogene opened the scoring inside five minutes.
Such a result saw Hull City leapfrog Coventry City and climb back into the top six at the beginning of February, and now sitting a point ahead of Coventry, Sunderland and Norwich City with a game in hand, they will be keen to strengthen their standing and begin to build a lead with another victory on Saturday.
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In their way stand a visiting side who will bid to end a rut under the management of Luke Williams, with Swansea City having largely endured a tough campaign thus far.
Following Michael Duff's exit and Alan Sheehan's stint as interim manager, Luke Williams arrived in South Wales with the Swans sat on 32 points from 26 outings, and he has been unable to inspire any improvement thus far.
After kicking off with an FA Cup win over fourth-tier Morecambe and a 2-2 draw away at Birmingham City, the new boss has since overseen four straight defeats and three in the second tier, firstly falling to a 3-1 loss at home to Southampton and suffering a 5-0 beating away at Bournemouth in the FA Cup fourth round.
On their return to league action, the Welsh outfit then travelled to league leaders Leicester City at the end of January and were handed a 3-1 beating, with Joe Allen's 95th-minute goal nothing more than a consolation, before most recently hosting a Plymouth Argyle side who they sat level on points with and again leaving empty-handed as Morgan Whittaker netted the only goal inside the opening 20 minutes.
Having now dropped to 17th spot with just a two-point lead over 21st-placed Huddersfield Town and a five-point lead over the relegation zone, Swansea City's position is quickly growing more concerning, and they will be desperate to get up and running under Williams with a first Championship win since New Year's Day to kickstart a climb back up the division.
Team News
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Hull City may come into Saturday's game with an unchanged starting XI from their 1-0 victory over Millwall last time out, with midfielder Jean-Michael Seri still away on international duty with Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations and attackers Aaron Connolly and Liam Delap remaining sidelined by injuries.
Star man Jaden Philogene marked his return from an injury layoff with the decisive goal in that game, taking his tally to seven for the season in the Championship alongside five assists in just 15 games, and he should again line up alongside loanees Fabio Carvalho and Anass Zaroury in a trio behind either Ozan Tufan, Noah Ohio or Billy Sharp up front.
Elsewhere, Tyler Morton and Regan Slater will continue their midfield partnership in Seri's absence, while Alfie Jones and Jacob Greaves will again line up at the heart of the back four with January arrival Ryan Giles offering further quality on the left-hand side.
Swansea City continue to deal with several injury issues, with defender Harry Darling likely remaining sidelined alongside Liam Walsh, Josh Key, Josh Ginnelly and Jamal Lowe.
Charlie Patino will bid to return to the starting XI in midfield, while fellow Arsenal loanee Charles Sagoe Jr will hope to earn a first start on the wing in their 4-2-3-1 shape, likely joining Jamie Paterson and Ronald in support of front man Jerry Yates.
Elsewhere, in Darling's absence, Ben Cabango and Nathan Wood will continue to partner up in the middle of a back four with Kyle Naughton and Josh Tymon will fight to keep their places either side.
Hull City possible starting lineup:
Allsop; Coyle, Jones, Greaves, Giles; Slater, Morton; Philogene, Carvalho, Zaroury; Ohio
Swansea City possible starting lineup:
Rushworth; Naughton, Cabango, Wood, Tymon; Patino, Grimes; Ronald, Paterson, Sagoe Jr; Yates
We say: Hull City 2-0 Swansea City
Swansea City are yet to find their groove under Williams, while Hull City are gaining momentum with an abundance of quality in their squad, particularly going forward, and we can only envisage a home victory at the weekend with Rosenior's men setting out to further strengthen their standing in the top six.
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Sam Varley
