Tuesday Night Home Record Faces Toughest Test Against Leaders Hull Tuesday, 23rd Feb 2016 06:00 Town’s remarkable Tuesday night home record faces its toughest test this evening when Championship leaders Hull City visit Portman Road. The Blues have won their last 16 games at Portman Road on Tuesdays - their last loss was a 2-0 defeat to Watford three years and four days ago - but they go into this evening's match having lost their last two fixtures, away at QPR and Bristol City, and having won only once in their last six games in all competitions. Despite that run, manager Mick McCarthy is hoping for a positive atmosphere as his ninth-placed side look to close the gap on the top six, which stretched to five points following the weekend fixtures. “I am speaking from a pragmatic point of view really, not appealing to anybody,” he said. “I can’t imagine why anybody would want to turn out and come with a negative attitude anyway or a negative point of view. “I know the start of the game can turn that. It’s us that can turn people who are on that fence, 50/50. It’s down to us to get the positivity back. “But you also have to be bit forgiving in your thought process that if it doesn’t start well, give us the gee-up and maybe we can finish like we have so often this season, certainly the last few home games against Reading, Leeds and QPR when we won in the last knockings of the game. “We’ve all got to keep going. That’s in important lesson really, it goes right to the very end.” He added: “Me trying to jolly people along is not going to make a blind bit of difference. People either have to have a positive outlook or a negative outlook and of course if the manager says something it’ll be ‘Oh, he can say what he likes, he can dribble on…’ “We are only just outside the play-offs. We did end up in the play-offs with the last kick of the last game in the last minute of last season. So who is to say it won’t happen this time? “We’ve had a tough time of late, on the back of losing some really good players as well. That doesn’t help. I’ve not whinged about it but it’s as obvious as the nose on my face that when you lose those kinds of players it’s going to make it difficult. “And we have to remain positive and consistent and go into the game against Hull thinking we can beat them and get back to winning ways because I can see other teams who have had a nice little run. “Preston have put a good run together, Derby have had a tough time, Middlesbrough have not had it all going their own way. “It’s a matter of keeping going. And, do you know what? That’s for us and I think that’s for supporters as well. “Yes, we all get disappointed but then when they come along on Tuesday night, come with a positive attitude and let’s hope that we can all play well and win the game.” McCarthy has praise for the backing his side has received: “I’m not actually aware of people moaning, whinging and bitching. “I think we’ve been supported particularly well, and probably with more tolerance than at other clubs. “But I get the fact that when it’s not going well we all want to buck our ideas up and do better. “We’re still in a good position to get in the play-offs. We’ve got two tough games coming up, starting with Hull and then Huddersfield away, but my mantra last season was that it will be May when it ends up and it’s going to be May this year when we’ve all had good runs and bad runs and indifferent runs, each and every one of us. “And that will continue for the next 15 games. Let’s hope we can just start a good run on Tuesday.” Does he believe the Blues have made progress this season? “Without me looking at the league position at this point last year and me saying we’ve made progress and somebody then saying ‘Well, actually last year you were in a worse position’, I’m not going to comment on that. “But I think if we’ve got David McGoldrick, Bish, Ryan Fraser, Skusey and we’d have had all those all season, I think we would have continued to make progress and it’s just been a little bit up and down. But there are a lot of games to make it go back up again.” McCarthy has been impressed by the Tigers, who were relegated from the Premier League last May after two seasons in the top flight. “If you want me to put the kiss of death on them, I did with Middlesbrough and Derby!” he said when asked if he thinks they would go straight back up. “I like Brucey. I hope we beat them tomorrow but they finish in the top two because he’s a mate of mine. “I rate them very highly and bearing in mind they had a 0-0 draw with 10 changes against Arsenal in the FA Cup on Saturday, that highlights the strength in depth that they’ve got and the back-up and support that they’ve got for the first team that we’ll be playing against on Tuesday night, who are a really good side.” McCarthy says Saturday’s draw with the Gunners at the Emirates will have told him little about the team which will line-up at Portman Road this evening. “I didn’t watch it for that reason,” he added. “TC went, he watched the game. There were 10 changes. “It’ll be completely the opposite, I doubt they’ll play 3-5-2 on Tuesday night, it’ll be back to their 4-4-1-1 with Mohamed Diame and Abel Hernandez up front because that was the team they rested, that’s the team that’s been playing. And they’re a damned good team.” He added: “We’re playing a Championship team who have got players who have come out of the Premier League and have got to get back there. “They’re not a Premier League team but they’ve maybe got the ability and the players of some Premier League teams." McCarthy says he’s unlikely to line up his side in the 3-5-2 system he employed at the start of the 2-1 defeat at Bristol City 10 days ago. “I can’t imagine I will, but it’s an option,” he admitted. “That had no bearing on the result of that game, to be honest with you. “I thought it was OK, we conceded from two corner kicks, but the 3-5-2 had no bearing on that. “But if Hull play that way I’ve got an option to change it if I needed to do it. Sometimes just to match them up and stem the tide. It’s important you can do it and be versatile.” Reflecting on his side having conceded more goals this season - 39 - than has usually been the case since he took over as boss, he says it’s not a situation where all the goals have come in the same manner. “I’ve been concerned all season, it’s not like us,” he continued. “We’re only plus-one in goal difference. “I’ve looked at them. Has there been one factor in it? Has it been from the right side? No. Left side? No. Central? No. Defending corners? Not particularly. Have we been caught on the break, one-v-ones? “We’ve had the whole lot of them that we’ve conceded. It’s not one weakness in the team that I could isolate and think, ‘We’ll fix that’. We’ve conceded from all sorts of positions.” Making his home debut will be recent loan signing Ben Pringle, who has impressed his manager since joining the Blues a fortnight ago. “He’s a good player Prings, I’m really pleased with him,” he said. “He’s no Ryan Fraser, but there’s not many that are, to be quite honest. “He’s a left-sider that can play on the inside, he’s got a good left foot. I think he’s got a goal in him and he delivers great crosses.” McCarthy hopes the opportunity to work with the players on the training field during the 10-day gap since the Bristol City match will prove to be beneficial. “Tuseday night will tell, won’t it? It’s been beneficial in terms of getting players back. Beneficial in terms of doing some work on how we play and the shape of the team, so hopefully it is. You set out with that intention and hope it works.” Despite the back-to-back away losses in the last two games, he believes there were positives to be taken from the second-half performances: “We’ve had two difficult games away from home, at QPR and then Bristol City. “I think even in the second half of both games you could see that they never give up. We were at it in both games and really competitive having had two really difficult first halves. “That’s been the story of the season. When we’ve had disappointments we’ve come back and we’ve scrapped and worked and played and done well and got results. It’ll be a tough one again on Tuesday night, but we’ll be trying.” He added: “I would want those two second half performances for the rest of the season, the ones at QPR and Bristol City, at least more competitive and more aggressive. “And if we get 15 performances of ‘Mick McCarthy teams’ I will accept that. Whatever the end product is, I will accept us playing with that passion and that desire and that energy and the ability that we show. When we play like that, we’re a good side.” Reflecting on that extraordinary Tuesday night home record his side will be looking to extend this evening, he said: “I was going to say I’d put a bet on but I can’t, can I? Midweek fixtures under lights, you usually get a better atmosphere, whatever it is, it’s everywhere. “Maybe people have finished work and been and gone and had a beer, they’re all excited, the lights, it’s just a great atmosphere. Let’s hope it works on Tuesday.” The Blues look set to revert back to a four-man backline with skipper Luke Chambers at right-back, Jonas Knudsen on the left and Tommy Smith and Christophe Berra in the centre of the defence. Behind them, Bartosz Bialkowski will continue in goal, while Dean Gerken will be back on the bench having recovered from his shoulder injury. In midfield, Jonathan Douglas could take up Cole Skuse’s holding midfield role with the Bristolian out for six to eight weeks with a toe injury. Luke Hyam will probably take the other central role with Pringle on the left and Freddie Sears on the right. Up front, 10-goal top scorer Brett Pitman seems likely to operate behind Daryl Murphy. Having made those 10 changes for the FA Cup tie at Arsenal, Tigers boss Steve Bruce, who has a fully fit squad, is expected to return to his more usual side, although he admits that his fringe players gave him something to think about. “The obvious one is the goalkeeper [Eldin Jakupović], but Allan McGregor hasn’t done anything wrong,” he told the Hull official site. “The reason I made the changes at the weekend was to keep players fresh. It allowed people like [Sam] Clucas, [Robert] Snodgrass and [Jake] Livermore a chance to put their feet up for an afternoon. Let’s hope I’ve done the right thing, but I’m convinced that is the way forward. “There were a lot of tired bodies after the effort put in at Arsenal, and we know that a footballer can play a game every day if you want them to, but it won’t be anywhere near the right intensity. “We play on Tuesday, then Friday, then the following Thursday. We’ve got a fit and healthy squad.” 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 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 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 14 of the games between the teams (13 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 eight games against the Tigers in all competitions, the East Yorkshire side having won six of them. In October at the KC Stadium, goals from Bruce, Chuba Akpom and David Meyler saw Hull to a comfortable victory. Sub Bruce headed the opener in the 36th minute, Akpom made it 2-0 seven minutes later and Meyler volleyed home a brilliant third on 58. The teams last met at Portman Road in the April of Hull’s 2012/13 promotion campaign. 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 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. Fans travelling by train from the direction of London should note there will be disruption to regular services following the game. The family of season ticket holder and former Ipswich Town Disabled FC player Peter Barkley are asking fans to stage a minute's applause in the 28th minute of tonight's game as a mark of respect. Tonight’s referee is Brendan Malone from Wiltshire, who has shown 52 yellow cards and five red in 22 games so far this season. Malone will be taking charge of both Town and the Tigers for the first time. Squad from: Bialkowski, Gerken, Chambers (c), Knudsen, Foley, Kenlock, Berra, Smith, Digby, Hyam, Douglas, Tabb, Bru, Pringle, Maitland-Niles, Touré, Sears, Pitman, Murphy, Varney.
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