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Vs

Hull vs Boro... While not a derby in the local geographical sense, this is still a fixture Boro fans will feel some added grudge. I, personally, have been looking forward to this game all season.

Hull's greatest achievement, besides gaining promotion to the Premiership, was in 1930, when they reached the FA Cup semi-final. The cup run saw Hull knocking out the eventual Champions of the Second and Third Division; Blackpool and Plymouth Argyle respectively. They then knocked out Manchester City to meet Newcastle United in the FA Cup quarter finals. The first leg at St James' Park finished as a 1–1 draw, but in the replay, Hull beat Newcastle 1–0. The semi-final match against Arsenal took place at Elland Road in Leeds, the game ended 2–2, and was taken to a replay. Arsenal knocked Hull out at Aston Villa's home ground, the game ended 1–0 to end their oh so close run to the cup, however, this was quickly undone by a turn of events in 2001 which, arguably, was the catalyst for their upturn in form and steady rise up to the Premiership.

Hull's financial situation was turning increasingly dire by this point and were facing closure and banishment from the Football League. A boardroom takeover by former Leeds United commercial director Adam Pearson had eased the club's precarious financial situation and all fears of closure were eliminated.

The new chairman ploughed funds into the club, allowing the manager to rebuild the team. Hull occupied the Division Three promotion and playoff places for much of the 2001–02 season, but the manager departed two months before the end of the season and Hull slipped to 11th under his successor Jan Mølby.

While Hull languished fifth from bottom in the league, Peter Taylor was named as Hull's new manager and in December 2002, just two months his appointment, Hull relocated to the impressive new 25,400-seater KC Stadium, one of the Football Leagues most beautiful grounds, after 56 years at Boothferry Park. At the end of the season Hull finished 13th.

The two seasons which followed the opening of the new stadium were hugely successful. Hull were Division Three runners-up in 2003–04 and League One runners-up in 2004–05. These back-to-back promotions took them into the Championship. The 2005–06 season, the club's first season back in the second tier, saw Hull finish in 18th place, a comfortable 10 points clear of relegation and their highest league finish for 16 years.

However, Taylor left the club on 13 June 2006 to take up the manager's job at Crystal Palace. Phil Parkinson was confirmed as his replacement on 29 June 2006, but was sacked on 4th of December with Hull in the relegation zone, despite having spent over £2 million on players. Phil Brown took over as caretaker manager, and took over permanently in January 2007, having taken Hull out of the relegation zone and on to safety. Brown brought veteran striker and Boro favorite Dean Windass back to his hometown club on loan from Bradford City and his eight goals helped secure Hull's Championship status as they finished in 21st place. At the end of the season, another familiar face, former manager Brian Horton, rejoined the club as Phil Brown's assistant.

Adam Pearson sold the club to a consortium led by Paul Duffen in June 2007, stating that he "had taken the club as far as I could", and would have to relinquish control in order to attract "really significant finance into the club". He resigned from the board on 31 July 2007, thus severing all ties with the club.

Under Paul Duffen and manager Phil Brown, Hull City improved greatly on their relegation battle of 2006–07 and qualified for the play-offs after finishing the season in third place. They beat Watford 6–1 on aggregate in the semi-finals and played Bristol City in the final on 24 May 2008, which Hull won 1–0 at Wembley Stadium, with Hull native Dean Windass scoring the winning goal. Their ascent from the bottom division of the English football league to the top in just five seasons is the third fastest ever.

Despite being one of the favourites for relegation, Hull began life in the Premier League in great form, beating Fulham 2–1 on the opening day in their first ever top flight fixture. With only one defeat in their opening nine games, they found themselves (temporarily) joint top of the table, third on goal difference, following a 3–0 victory over West Bromwich Albion - ten years previously they had been bottom of tier four of the league. What a revival!

Hull's sustained form in the Premiership is by far responsible for manager Phil Browns astute signings in the Summer.

Players such as our very own George Boateng, who was among one of the dwindling performers for us in his final season, has found new life at Hull playing at the top of his game once again, along with Geovanni, who arrived free from Man City, Daniel Cousin from Rangers, Anthony Gardner from Spurs, Bernard Mendy along with other bright players already in the squad, not to mention their never say die attitude and their constant treating of games as a cup final, has seen them propel their league position beyond all belief. Geovanni, one of the more surprise signings, has been the key playmaker for Hull this season, creating and scoring many goals himself, a lot of them spectacular.

Honeymoon Over

However, thankfully for Boro, their honeymoon period seems to be dwindling, much like their form, which will dampen fears of Hull doing one over the larger teams like they were a month or so back. While not getting the same impressive results as they once were, they are still very much capable of scoring excellent team goals and one should never under estimate them.

No game is easy for Boro though, whatever the competition. Hull could be bottom of the league with zero points and they'd still make a meal of it or even turn us over, so long gone are the days when i'll predict an easy run to three points.

Despite Hull's current lack of form, they still remain 6th in the league, and that position has been well earned. Their mentality means that they aren't going to roll over and die or slip down the league without a fight, so that's something that every team they face, not just Boro, is going to have to think about when they step out of the tunnel onto the pitch.

Scoring Boots

Scoring has been a distinct problem for Boro this season and it's about time that a lot of other players started to get their names on the score sheet. We're finding it had to find goals from anywhere other than up front. Mind you, other than Juninho, and a little less, Zenden, Boro have never really had a regular goalscorer from midfield and Downing, last season's top scorer, is still waiting for his first goal of the season after missing two crucial penalties earlier in the season. Arca, while providing a creative touch, also lacks in the goals department, where as Digard appears to be able to score, but to this day hasn't.

Aliadiere, while being effective on the right, is lacking any real ability to get in on goal. I fear that we're going to be needing a more natural winger in the position in order to get the balance we need from left to right, and more importantly, the goals we need from that position.

Afonso is starting to up his work-rate, and that can be seen from the second half of the Newcastle match, from which he took the game from the scruff of the neck and found himself with a lot of good chances, including an individual run from the left. It's been suggested that Alves should play a few games in the reserves in order to get his name on the score sheet and in turn build up his confidence. Goals are goals no matter what level you are playing at and this could provide some of the confidence he needs to get himself in the goals. The odd thing is though, Alves really isn't a confidence player. He's a player that thrives on chances and the killer balls, and without those, he's never going to score a lot anyway. Some of the blame should be put elsewhere, but the added pressure from all the Boro fans calling for his head would surely dent his confidence as well.

If the midfield can get the passes through to Alves and create those chances, then i can guarantee you, we will see him at his best. I'd like to take you back to the Tottenham game, the first game of the season when we were arguably in our best form. It was by pure luck that Alves didn't score two!

Hull City: Possible Line-up and Team News

Hull City fan's can likely expect to field the same team that battled for a draw against Stoke City last week.

Hull currently have 4 players sidelined through injury.

Caleb Folan is out with a knee injury, but has been training this week and is currently due back into the squad. He may still find himself out of the team though as he builds up his fitness.

Andy Dawson has also returned to training following an Achilles injury.

Anthony Gardner, who is suffering from a Thigh Muscle Strain, won't be in the team with his earliest return date expected to be next week.

Finally, Craig Fagan, who suffered a Broken Leg, is recovering nicely but isn't ready to be included in the team just yet.

Middlesbrough: Possible Line-up and Team news

I'm not too sure what team we could expect to play tomorrow. My guess is that Southgate is going to try and field the same squad that played against Newcastle. What's uncertain though is if Alves can keep his place in the team. Alves had a good second half last week and came close to scoring, but will he find himself on the bench in place of Mido? My guess is that Mido will get the nod and Alves will make an early appearance in the second half.

Pogatetz is currently receiving treatment for a Shoulder injury sustained last week and is looking like he'll be well enough to face Hull, although that's not 100%.

On the injury front, Boro also have 4 players out for certain at the moment.

Chris Riggott continues to recover from a Hamstring injury, but as yet isn't fit enough to take his place in the squad despite returning to training.

Shawky and Huth are also recovering nicely on schedule from a Thigh Muscle Strain and an Ankle injury respectively. Both continue their rehab in training with the squad but Southgate doesn't think they are fit enough to take their places in the squad this week, while Rhys Williams continues on the sidelines recovering from his Cruciate Knee Ligament injury.

Team vs Team Statistics

Compared to most other clubs, Boro and Hull have only a small amount of fixtures to their names. Only 48 matches have taken place between these two sides in their entire history, and only one has taken place at the KC Stadium. A lot of fans will remember the two FA Cup ties almost a year ago, where Hull held us to a draw at the KC, and then took us all the way back at the Riverside in a match ending 4-3. Seb Hines also made his debut in the game and capped it off with a goal to boot.

25 matches have taken place in Hull, and as always, it's the home side that boasting the superior win amount. 9 wins have been collected by Hull, and a mediocre 4 by the Boro, leaving the remaining 12 as stalemates.

Hull also boast the superior goal:game ratio, scoring a staggering 1.72 goals per game, where as Boro trail with 1.24.

The statistics say that Boro have won only 16% of the games in Hull, 50% have been stalemates while 36% are under Hull's belt.

Boro do boast the overall record though. In the 48 match total, Boro are running away with 20 wins, to Hull's 12.

Of all the games played, Boro have won 41%, Hull 25% with the remaining 33% draws.

Prior to this match, the last league game between Boro and Hull was in the old Second Division [90/91] with the game ending in a 0-0 draw.

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Hull have failed to win in their previous 3 home matches

They haven't drawn a game in 3 outings

They haven't won in their previous 6 matches

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Boro are currently undefeated in 4 away outings!

But they haven't won in their last three games overall

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The Verdict

This is the battle of the out-of-formers and a win is crucial for both teams.

Hull have gone down as a very hard working side, and they definitely aren't pushovers or a team to be taken lightly. Hull will go out to score goals as we've seen so many times this season and any complacency on Boro's side will be punished swiftly. The defense is going to have to be vigilant tomorrow. Hull are capable of taking advantage of sloppy defending and scoring goals of absolute quality so it's a game Boro need to be on top of from the whistle. We've all seen Hull take down the giants, score goals at Man Utd... they need to be respected and played against with confidence. If Boro don't attack and defend as a unit, we'll leak goals.

I'm going to be vigilant, and say Boro will grab two goals. I'll predict that it won't be a classic game, it might not even be good to watch, but i think Boro might scrape two goals and keep a clean sheet for a change.

Final Verdict

Hull 0 - 2 Middlesbrough