McCarthy: Build on Huddersfield Draw Tuesday, 20th Oct 2015 06:00 Town boss Mick McCarthy is looking for his side to build on Saturday’s 0-0 home draw with Huddersfield when they face Hull City at the KC Stadium this evening. The Tigers are currently in seventh in the Championship three places and three points ahead of the Blues. McCarthy says he views Saturday’s result as a platform on which to build: “Very much so, and it is. Saturday's game last year, we win it with the chance at the end of the game. “I don’t think we were that much better than everybody else last year, better than 18 other teams in the league, not that much better. “There were times when we had really, tough, hard-fought, turgid games that hinged on a goal. And we had a 27-goal striker banging them in and the year before Didz was on 16. “I’m not blaming them, that was just one of those games that we’d have won and we’d all have come off feeling a lot better than we are. “So, we can build on it. We got a clean sheet, I thought the defenders were very capable on Saturday, we gave them a few chances by not defending well but then one of their mates repaid them. "And right at the end, it was nothing to do with defence, the ball just broke to Emyr Huws and Gerks made a magnificent save. “So, a clean sheet and a more hard-working performance, a more solid performance and more Ipswich Town-like performance since I’ve been here. Build on that.” Does he believe his side might be more suited to playing away rather than at home at present? “We’ll find out, won’t we? It doesn’t bother me. Sometimes there’s a nervousness, you’re waiting for it at home and the atmosphere can affect it. “And sometimes you go away and Hull are doing well and maybe the atmosphere will be buzzing there because they are doing well and we’re not here, and I understand that. Sometimes it can have a positive effect on our team.” McCarthy says he knows his Hull counterpart Steve Bruce very well: “Steve’s a good mate of mine, a football pal of mine. “We’re of similar age, we had a discussion over three years ago when he was out of work and I was as well and we were a little bit concerned that the 50-somethings were not getting the jobs any more. “And, of course, the 50-somethings have got the jobs and he did remarkably well getting them promoted, although they’ve been relegated since, and I think the 50-something here has done a pretty good job as well, although just having a tough time at the minute.” Having been relegated in May, Hull still have a squad full of players with Premier League experience. “I don’t see a bad side in Moses Odubajo, Curtis Davies, Michael Dawson, Ahmed Elmohamady," the Blues boss said. "The midfield three on Saturday was Tom Huddlestone, Mohamed Diame and Jake Livermore. I didn’t think they were bad players in the Premier League. “Abel Hernandez up front, Chuba Akpom, Sam Clucas, Shaun Maloney. That’s the team that they played against Sheffield Wednesday, so they’re a good side, they’ve got good Championship players and in fact they’ve got some good Premier League players.” McCarthy was delighted for keeper Dean Gerken that the Blues kept a clean sheet on Saturday: “Gerks has been brilliant and for all the talk of a clean sheet the one person I’m delighted for is Gerks because when you keep letting goals in as a goalkeeper you start to worry that the manager’s going to leave you out. “Well, I can’t think of any [that were his fault], except maybe one at Reading when there was a mix-up between him and Skusey and that was one of those nights. “He has been different class. He made two saves at Blackburn which kept the score down. I’m delighted for him, he’s been great. “We talk about support, with the keepers they both want to play but I think Bart recognises the fact that Gerks is playing well despite the goals which are going in the net and he’s there and ready and willing if anything happens. They support each other, it’s great, they’re two good keepers, I’m very lucky.” Gerken got his chance when Bartosz Bialkowski returned to Poland on compassionate leave in August, the former Colchester keeper having previously lost his spot in the team for non-form-related reasons last season when he was knocked unconscious at Middlesbrough. And as was the case with Bialkowski then, McCarthy says Gerken played well enough to keep his place in his absence: “That’s why he’ll be playing [on Tuesday] night.” In front of Gerken McCarthy seems unlikely to make many defensive changes after the Blues’ third clean sheet of the season, so skipper Luke Chambers is again set to be at right-back, Jonas Knudsen on the left and Tommy Smith and Christophe Berra in the centre. In midfield, McCarthy has been happy with the central pairing of Cole Skuse and Jonathan Douglas but at some point may look to make a change with games coming thick and fast. Douglas at 32 might be the one to drop out in favour of Kevin Bru. In the wide roles, in the absence of Ryan Fraser, Tommy Oar and Jay Tabb, the Town manager could opt to switch Ainsley Maitland-Niles to the left and start Larsen Touré on the right. Up front, he could switch his front pairings with Daryl Murphy and David McGoldrick starting and Brett Pitman and Freddie Sears dropping to the bench but likely to play a part at some stage. McCarthy says he was impressed with Murphy’s performance from the bench on Saturday: “I thought he was back at it on Saturday. Whichever strikers have played, the ones that have come on have had chances to score. “In seasons gone by it’s been Murph and Didz and I’ve looked at the bench and I wouldn’t have even thought about putting anybody else on instead of them. “And you know what, Didz has missed parts of both seasons, he’s missed three months each time and maybe that came down to the fact that he played every game. Murph missed a good bit at the end of last season too. “So we’ve got good strikers, it’s probably a bit alien to them that they’re not first choice but I thought both of them had a great reaction to coming on on Saturday. And they have to because they’ve not been at their best. “The thought of people turning up and me leaving Murphy and McGoldrick on the bench in seasons gone by would have just been nonsensical but Pitman and Sears are a good partnership.” Hull City boss Bruce says striker Abel Hernandez and midfielder Mohamed Diame will be assessed before the game. “Everybody is okay so we’ll get ready and go again on Tuesday,” he told the Tigers official site. “We’ll see how Abel is today and on Tuesday morning and a lot depends on how they [Hernandez and Diame] recover. “With Mo, the more minutes he plays the more he’ll get through it and we’ll see the return of him. "He’s a fantastic footballer, but at the minute he’s finding it very difficult and in my experience that is normal for somebody who has been out injured for a long time. “His decision-making and timing isn’t quite back to what it should be yet. It takes time to get over injuries, especially one as serious as he had.” Frontman Adama Diomande (groin) and winger Robert Snodgrass (knee) are both sidelined at present. Alex Bruce, the manager's son, made 123 starts and four sub appearances for the Blues between August 2006 and August 2010, scoring three goals. He joined the Tigers in July 2012. Midfielder Jake Livermore was on loan with Town from Tottenham between September 2010 and January 2011 making eight starts and four sub appearances. Hull’s second-choice keeper, Swiss international Eldin Jakupović, was briefly on trial at Playford Road in the summer of 2012 before signing a deal at the KC Stadium. The Tigers’ first team coach Keith Bertschin was a striker with the Blues between 1973 and 1977, famously scoring a goal with his first touch in senior football after coming on as a sub in a 2-1 away win at Arsenal in April 1976. He was a member of the 1975 FA Youth Cup-winning team. Blues winger Cameron Stewart, who is currently on loan at Doncaster, was with the Tigers between November 2010 and June 2014, initially on loan, making 47 starts and eight sub appearances, scoring two goals. The 25-year-old spent much of his time at the KC Stadium out on loan. Historically, Hull just have the edge on the Blues having won 13 of the games between the teams (12 in the league), while Town have been victorious eight times (eight) and a further 10 (10) matches have been draws. The Blues are without a win in seven games against the Tigers in all competitions, the East Yorkshire side having won five of them. The teams last met in the April of Hull’s 2012/13 promotion campaign at Portman Road. A Town run of five games unbeaten without conceding a goal came to an end as the Tigers left Portman Road with a 2-1 victory. The visitors were on top in the first half and went ahead from the spot through Robbie Brady after Guirane N’Daw had fouled David Meyler. The Blues were the better team after the break, sub Anthony Wordsworth grabbing his first goal for Town but Robert Koren headed a late winner for the visitors. In the previous October at the KC Stadium, two late goals from substitute Nick Proschwitz saw the Tigers come from behind to beat the Blues 2-1. Town had led at half-time through Jay Emmanuel-Thomas but the home side had been the better team throughout. Tonight’s referee is Christopher Kavanagh from Lancashire, who has shown 37 yellow cards and no reds in 11 games so far this season. Kavanagh’s only previous Town match was the 3-0 home victory over Charlton last season in which he booked Tommy Smith and David McGoldrick as well as one Addick. This evening’s match will be his first Hull game. Town squad from: Gerken, Bialkowski, Chambers (c), Parr, Knudsen, Berra, Smith, Malarczyk, Skuse, Douglas, Bru, Coke, Benyu, McDonnell, Maitland-Niles, Touré, Sears, Pitman, Murphy, McGoldrick.
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