Town manager Kieran McKenna says Hull City, who the Blues visit on Tuesday looking for a third away win on the bounce, will present a very different challenge from Wrexham at Portman Road at the weekend.

McKenna’s side, who dropped a place to eighth, but are now one point from the play-offs while still six from the top two with a game in hand, were frustrated to their first 0-0 draw in 14 months by the Welshmen, who put up a staunch rearguard action for the entire 90 minutes as they secured their third clean sheet in a row.

Hull, who are sixth, a point in front of the Blues, take a very different approach under Bosnian head coach Sergej Jakirovic and are currently the second-top scorers in the Championship on 28, two more than the Blues but 15 fewer than Coventry, however, with only Sheffield Wednesday, 32, having conceded more than the 27 they have shipped at the other end.

Saturday’s trip to QPR was not untypical with the Super Hoops coming from behind twice to win 3-2.

At the MKM Stadium, the Tigers have won five, drawn two and lost one and are currently unbeaten in six stretching back to a 3-0 reverse to Blackburn Rovers in August, winning three of their last four.

On their own turf, Hull have scored 15 times in eight games, the same as Town in nine matches at Portman Road, with just the Sky Blues, 22, and Birmingham City, 19, having netted more. But only five teams have conceded more than the 12 opposition teams have bagged.

“They’ve been a big threat, creating a lot, scoring a lot,” McKenna said. “I think they are the second-top scorers in the league and the data underneath that backs that up, so their attacking play has been really, really strong and they’ve been a big threat.

“We know we’re going to have to respect the qualities that they bring and we’re going to have to defend really well, but also, as we do, try and impose ourselves on the game and be a threat to them. It should be a good game. It’s one we’re looking forward to.”

Does he believe that Hull’s more attack-minded approach could give his team rather more space to exploit than was the case against Wrexham?

“I think that’s always the case,” the Blues boss added. “Maybe the last couple of home games and last couple of away games have panned out a little bit like that.

“We’ve managed to get the first goal away from home and then the game opens up a lot more for you and at home we haven’t managed to get it, and then you end up trying to beat the door down, which is difficult as well.

“Of course, if it’s a team who come against us that’s a challenge in a different way, but also maybe there’ll be a little bit more space for us to try and attack as well.”

Having been without a win in their first four Championship away games this season, the Blues won 4-1 at both QPR and Swansea on their two most recent trips, but have been held to draws at Portman Road by Watford, 1-1, and then the Red Dragons in their last two home matches.

“These go in swings though, don’t they?” McKenna reflected. “Six weeks ago, we’d scored three against Norwich and a couple against Portsmouth and five against Sheffield United and we couldn’t win away from home and we hadn’t got our first away win.

“And then a month later, we’ve scored two four-goal hauls away from home and now teams have come to Portman Road and made it really difficult for us and we haven’t managed to get the first goal and we’ve been frustrated in terms of how clinical we’ve managed to be.

“These are the challenges of football and trying to be a good team. These things do tend to swing over the course of a season. If you do well in one way, then teams try and stop you and if you don’t do well in one way, then teams try and exploit that and try and swing over the course of the season.

“That’s why you need to keep developing in every area, all phases of your games, why you need the whole squad and group with players with different qualities, so that you can win different types of games.

“For sure, if you call it a category in terms of how the game panned out [on Saturday] in terms of us having most of the possession and territory and trying to break down a back five and a packed midfield in front of that, that’s one challenge.

“And then going away from home against a team who have scored lots of goals and created lots of chances, that’s a different challenge and we need to keep improving at how we tackle both.”

With Tuesday’s match the second in a very busy run of fixtures and the first of three on the road with the Blues at Oxford on Friday and Blackburn next Tuesday, McKenna confirmed there will be changes to his starting XI.

“It’s not a no-brainer but at the moment we have seven games in 22 days and we have a strong group, so we’re going to have to utilise them all and it’s important that we get behind whoever plays, they all need the support,” he added.

“They’re all here because we believe that they can contribute. It’s still really early days for a lot of them at the football club. You’re talking about quite a few of our players out there [on Saturday], who have maybe had two, three, four, five starts at the football club. That’s nothing - you’ve got Leif Davis, who has made 150.

“If we’re going to make big judgements on people after two, three, four, five starts, then I think we’re in the wrong direction.

“We need to get right behind whoever plays, go there as a real team. Three tough away games now, but a challenge to go and tackle.”

The Team

McKenna has scope to make switches of personnel in virtually all areas with only Alex Palmer and Sammie Szmodics sidelined at present, but with both due back within a fortnight, and Wes Burns still working on getting back up to full fitness after his ACL tear.

Christian Walton will be in goal with McKenna having options at right-back, perhaps looking to rest Darnell Furlong and bring in Ashley Young.

Skipper Dara O’Shea could be partnered by Jacob Greaves, who would be facing his old club, at the centre of the defence with Cedric Kipre switching to the bench, and Leif Davis at left-back.

In midfield, McKenna may opt to bring Jens Cajuste back into the XI for Jack Taylor alongside Azor Matusiwa.

Ahead of them, Kasey McAteer, Marcelino Nunez and Jack Clarke appear likely to start with Sindre Walle Egeli, Chuba Akpom and Jaden Philogene all on the bench and playing their part in the second half.

Similarly, George Hirst looks set to come back into the starting line-up as the number nine with Ivan Azon among the subs.

The Opposition

City head coach Jakirovic, who took charge in the summer following Ruben Selles’s sacking, was frustrated by the number of shooting opportunities his side allowed Rangers during Saturday’s loss.

The West Londoners had 26 shot at the weekend, Bristol City having struck 29 in their 4-2 home victory over the Tigers in August.

“We will analyse some clips and we will try to sort it out because we allowed too many shots towards our goal,” the Bosnian told Hull Live.

“We have to be more aggressive in this situation and to jump in more aggressively without doubts about what will happen behind me.

“Like QPR in some moments of the game. They were very aggressive towards our players, but OK, this is sometimes how you read the game, how you shuffle the defensive line, so we have work to do.”

The East Yorkshiremen have had their fair share of injuries lately with midfielder Kasey Palmer around a month away from a return from an MCL issue.

Winger Liam Millar is out until December with a hamstring issue, while midfielder Eliot Matazo isn’t due to return until January after suffering an ACL injury.

Striker Oli McBurnie is not expected to be ready return to action until the weekend, also after a calf problem.

Midfielder John Lundstram is set to be back in full training this week following a calf injury and may be included in the squad for the trip to Suffolk.

Forward Mo Belloumi returned from a hamstring injury to come off the bench for the final 18 minutes at Loftus Road.

Midfielder and one-time Blues target Matt Crooks is suspended having reached five bookings.

History

Historically, Hull have the edge on the Blues having won 19 of the games between the teams (18 in the league), while Town have been victorious 10 times (10) and a further 12 (12) matches have been draws.

The Blues are unbeaten in three against the Tigers but prior to that had gone 14 matches in all competitions without beating them.

Town have won only twice in 12 trips to Hull’s current home in all competitions, a 5-2 victory under Jim Magilton in March 2007 and a 1-0 success during Paul Lambert’s time in charge in February 2021 at an empty stadium due to Covid.

The teams last met in April 2024 in the Blues’ antepenultimate game of their Championship promotion season, moving level on points with second-placed Leeds United following a pulsating 3-3 draw at the MKM Stadium having been in front three times.

Striker Hirst, returning after an injury lay-off, put Town in front in the 19th minute but the Tigers levelled on 40 through Ozan Tufan before Omari Hutchinson put the Blues back ahead with the first of two brilliant goals.

However, Hull equalised again through future Town striker Liam Delap in the 56th minute, then Hutchinson’s second put the Blues ahead again.

But Tigers sub Noah Ohio grabbed a point for the East Yorkshire side with three minutes remaining and Town were unable to take late chances to win it.

In the preceding October at Portman Road, the Blues returned to the top of the Championship after a comprehensive 3-0 defeat of Hull, who had gone into the match unbeaten in eight.

Wes Burns got the game off to the perfect start with a powerful strike in the fifth minute with Town dominating the first half before Chaplin made it 2-0 four minutes before the break.

The Blues, who put in their best performance of the season up to that point, sealed the victory with Marcus Harness’s first of the campaign on 65.

Familiar Faces

Town forward Philogene was with Hull City in 2023/24 having signed from Aston Villa, scoring 12 goals in 32 games before returning to the Birmingham club the following summer after they utilised their buy-back option, gazumping the Blues, who had a deal agreed. The former England U21 international eventually joined Town from Villa the following January.

Centre-half Greaves is from Hull and came through the ranks with the Tigers, where his father Mark had been a player, before breaking into the senior side and making 173 starts and four sub appearances, scoring six times before moving to Town in the summer of 2024.

Currently injured Town full-back Conor Townsend is also from Hull and another former Tigers academy player.

The 32-year-old made one sub senior appearance and spent time on loan at a number of clubs before departing to Scunthorpe on a permanent basis.

Blues first-team coach Sone Aluko was with Hull between the summers of 2012 and 2016, making 64 starts and 44 sub appearances, scoring 15 times.

The former Nigeria international was part of the team which won promotion from the Championship after finishing second in 2012/13 and played in the Premier League in the following two seasons. He came on as a substitute in the 2014 FA Cup final defeat to Arsenal.

Ex-Blues loanee Brandon Williams joined the Tigers in the summer following a trial. The one-time Manchester United trainee made 10 starts and seven sub appearances, scoring twice, during a spell at Portman Road during 2023/24, all in the first half of the season.

City centre-half Semi Ajayi was on trial with Town in January 2015 while an Arsenal player when he started a game for the U21s but failed to win a deal.

The Blues were keen to sign suspended midfielder Crooks in the summer of 2021 when the midfielder joined Middlesbrough from Rotherham. He moved on to Hull in January of this year.

Town’s Wembley 2000 play-off final man of the match Richard Naylor is academy manager at Hull.

Officials

Tuesday’s referee is Lewis Smith, his assistants Callum Gough and Darren Williams, and the fourth official Ben Toner.

Lancashire-based Smith’s most recent Town game was the 2-2 draw at Everton in May in which he booked Hirst, Delap, Sam Morsy, Conor Chaplin and four Tigers.

Prior to that, he was in charge of the 4-3 defeat at Brentford in October last year in which he booked Davis and showed Harry Clarke two yellow cards and then a red with both having an element of controversy.

The first led to a penalty given by VAR with the challenge appearing to have started outside the area and the second when the defender, who was making his first Premier League start, had clearly won the ball.

Smith also took charge of the Blues in last season’s 1-1 home draw with Fulham in August last year in which he cautioned Morsy, Ali Al-Hamadi and three Cottagers.

Coincidentally, Smith also refereed the previous meeting between the Blues and Whites, in the Carabao Cup tie during the previous campaign, in which he booked Taylor, Marcus Harness and three of the visitors.

Smith’s only Town match prior to that was the second-round Carabao Cup tie at Reading a couple of months earlier, which the Blues won 3-1 on penalties after a 2-2 draw.

George Edmundson, Lee Evans, Cameron Humphreys and two home players were cautioned during that fixture.

Squad From

Walton, Button, Gray, Furlong, Johnson, Young, H Clarke, Davis, O’Shea (c), Greaves, Kipre, Matusiwa, Cajuste, Taylor, Nunez, Humphreys, J Clarke, Walle Egeli, Philogene, McAteer, Akpom, Hirst, Azon.

Photo: TWTD

Ipswich_Sniffer added 11:57 - Nov 24 My team for the Hull game: McAteer McAteer McAteer McAteer McAteer McAteer McAteer McAteer McAteer McAteer McAteer
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TimmyH added 12:28 - Nov 24 You just know he's going to make changes (one enforced - Matisuwa) and will be very similar to the side that beat Swansea away other than the fore-mentioned and that probably means McAteer back in.
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Saxonblue74 added 13:33 - Nov 24 Looking forward to this one. Wouldn't put my house on a 0-0!
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StowTractor added 13:36 - Nov 24 I would think that other than Walton, Matusiwa is the last player he would change. Unless you know about a injury we don't that is TimmyH?
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Bert added 13:36 - Nov 24 The spine of the team will remain more or less intact so I expect changes to reflect what is needed for this game. I don’t have any difficulty with this. My only criticism is that subs should come on earlier if the game is going nowhere.
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oldelsworthyfan added 14:17 - Nov 24 We've become predictable. Why stick with 4-2-3-1? Coventry are doing ok with 4-4-2. Davis is brilliant on attack, but I hardly dare watch when he's trying to defend. The lone striker role doesn't really work with Hirst We have the players, but they are not consistent or playing to their potential. Wrexham were there for the taking on Saturday while we were busy passing from side-to-side and they packed their defence. 0 - 0 hardly a surprise!

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Stato added 14:22 - Nov 24 The bookies have us as strong favourites to win this one and they currently predict Hull to finish 12th come seasons end so although its respectful of McKenna to pick out the strengths of our opponents every week this doesn't mean we have to set our expectations too low just because he speaks cautiously (which I have no problem with btw). We are close to joining the top 6 and not too far off 2nd place and no doubt a DM (or possibly 2) will be joining the ranks in Jan.

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blueboy1981 added 14:30 - Nov 24 McKenna is so one dimensional, even his comments are like a recorded message - aligned with his tactics, and thoroughly boring. Hope he loses his Sub’ alarm watch soon, at least it would be a change to the ritual routine !! Now another ‘different challenge’ ahead it seems !!
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Karlosfandangal added 15:00 - Nov 24 I am expecting a draw and win the next two…… teams will attack us when we are away from home so Town will have more space to attack….at home teams defended in numbers and deep as they know they can’t beat us and hold n for a draw or hope to nick a win
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Bazza8564 added 15:43 - Nov 24 Oldesworthyfan, sorry I completely disagree. The last two or three home games Akpom has played in the 10 and doesnt come deep, hence almost switching us to 442. We dry up completely when we do that, have no build up play through the centre and get double teamed in the wide positions. We play out from the back and our two midfielders drop deep to help that so the 10 has to come deeper too or we just have a gap. Our whole squad has been assembled and reassembled in the last 4 years under KM to play a certain way. Playing a high 10 makes us worse not better Currently, we have Akpom playing 10 and he is absolutely hopeless in that role. As soon as Nunez came on saturday, he came looking for the ball in the central channel, and we started creating stuff through there. The problem is personnel. If Akpom is an upgrade on Chaplin im missing something, Chaplin defined exactly how to play in that role, Akpom hasnt a clue how to drop in and link

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