Hull City will welcome Watford to the MKM Stadium on Wednesday for an important game at both ends of the Championship table.
The hosts remain at the foot of the table after suffering a sixth straight defeat at the weekend, while the visitors find themselves just outside of the playoff spots after seeing Saturday's trip to Cardiff City postponed.
Match preview
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Hull City head back to the MKM Stadium under new management on Wednesday aiming to end a dismal run of form and move off the bottom of the Championship table.
After finishing seventh last time around and replacing former manager Liam Rosenior with Tim Walter over the summer, the Tigers currently sit on just 15 points from 19 outings this term, with their only three wins coming consecutively across late September and early October.
They have since endured an 11-match winless run in England's second tier, including six straight defeats heading into Wednesday's contest, with the fourth of those, a 2-0 loss to Sheffield Wednesday last month, spelling the end of Walter's tenure.
Interim boss Andy Dawson was unable to end that rut and instead oversaw two further defeats, as the Tigers firstly fell to Middlesbrough before most recently hosting Blackburn Rovers on Saturday and again coming away empty-handed as Sean McLoughlin's first-half own goal was the only difference between the sides.
The club hierarchy have since turned to Ruben Selles to take the reins, and beginning with a Hull City side sitting 24th, two points adrift of safety and winless in the league in over two months, he will be keen to inspire an upturn in form beginning on Wednesday.
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They face a tough test, though, as the visitors make the trip aiming to return to the playoff spots and extend an unbeaten streak to five games in the Championship.
Watford United return from an unexpected break on Wednesday hoping to continue a pleasing start to their first full season under the management of Tom Cleverley, currently sitting seventh in England's second tier having earned 30 points from their first 18 outings.
After falling to a sixth league defeat of the campaign away at Swansea City in November, the Hornets put another pleasing run together, going unbeaten and earning 10 points from a four-match span having firstly picked up 1-0 home victories over Oxford United and Bristol City either side of a draw with Plymouth Argyle.
A trip to Queens Park Rangers then followed, and Cleverley's men settled for a point from a goalless draw, before most recently seeing a scheduled trip to Cardiff City on Saturday postponed due to adverse weather conditions.
With improvement to their away form required, having lost six of their nine games on the road so far this season, but only trailing fifth and sixth spots by a single point after the weekend's postponement, Watford will aim to make it five games unbeaten and get back to winning ways on their travels to return to the playoff spots on Wednesday.
Team News
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We are yet to see how Ruben Selles will line up his new Hull City side, but he will be unable to call on midfielder Oscar Zambrano due to an ongoing ban, while centre-back Charlie Hughes will also serve a suspension after reaching five yellow cards for the season in last week's defeat to Blackburn Rovers.
Given Hughes's absence, and with Alfie Jones remaining a doubt due to an injury, Finley Burns should join Sean McLoughlin in the middle of a back four, while Lewie Coyle and Ryan Giles will hope to keep their places on either side despite competition from Cody Drameh.
The Tigers' options are also limited by injuries in attack, with wingers Liam Millar, Bachir Belloumi and Dogukan Sinik all set to remain confined to the treatment room, meaning Abu Kamara, Kasey Palmer and Ryan Longman could again support either Chris Bedia or Joao Pedro up front, although Abdulkadir Omur and Mason Burstow will also compete to feature.
Despite not being in action over the weekend, Watford could return without defender Ryan Andrews, who sustained an injury in their draw with QPR, while centre-back Angelo Ogbonna and midfielder Tom Dele-Bashiru are still sidelined.
If Andrews does miss out, Festy Ebosele will line up on the right-hand side of their 3-4-3 shape, with Yasser Larouci continuing on the other flank and Ryan Porteous, Francisco Sierralta and Mattie Pollock forming a back three again.
Imran Louza and veteran Moussa Sissoko should continue their midfield partnership, while top scorer Vakoun Issouf Bayo, who leads the squad with seven goals so far this term, will likely lead the attack with support from Edo Kayembe and star man Giorgi Chakvetadze.
Hull City possible starting lineup:
Pandur; Coyle, McLoughlin, Burns, Giles; Puerta, Slater; Kamara, Palmer, Burstow; Bedia
Watford possible starting lineup:
Bachmann; Porteous, Sierralta, Pollock; Ebosele, Louza, Sissoko, Larouci; Kayembe, Chakvetadze; Bayo
We say: Hull City 1-1 Watford
Potentially lifted by the arrival of Selles, we back Hull City to, at least, end their run of losses on Wednesday and pick up a share of the spoils on home turf against a visiting side who have enjoyed the much stronger season thus far.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
