Stoke City host Steve Bruce’s Hull City as they look to continue their fine form this Saturday in the Barclays Premier League. The Tigers have won two of the last three games and are now four points clear of the relegation zone.

Their fine form recently has been partially down to new signing Dame N’Doye, the January signing from Lokomotiv Moscow has been a hit on Humberside, scoring two in two games. The hosts have been incredibly inconsistent this season, but yet still sit in the top ten.  

Hull were hit with a sanction from UEFA this week for breaching financial fair play rules. The Tigers were given a £145,000 fine after not meeting the governing body’s standards. However it’s expected that their finances will be more stable next time round.

In his press conference this week Hull boss Steve Bruce acknowledged that his side are still a long way from safety: “We’re not out of the woods yet,” said the Hull manager. “We’re in a horrible dogfight and there’s six or eight teams in it.” Wins over Aston Villa and QPR in recent weeks have seen City climb up to 15th in the Premier League table.

Stoke manager Mark Hughes is wary of the threat the Tigers possess: “Hull will be coming in more confidence than they had in recent weeks so it should be a good match up with them.” Like Hull Stoke have enjoyed victory over Aston Villa recently, with Victor Moses netting a late penalty in a 2-1 in Tim Sherwood’s first game in charge of the Villans.

Team News

For Stoke Geoff Cameron returns after being suspended for the game at Villa Park. Jon Walters, Erik Pieters, Marc Wilson and Stephen Ireland all return for the game at the Britannia. However Ryan Shawcross (back) and Bojan (knee) remain on the sidelines.

Hull are still without Mohamed Diame, he still is out with a knee injury he picked up back in December against Everton, he should be back in the next few weeks. The bright side for Steve Bruce is that there are no fresh injury worries. As James Chester (shoulder), Liam Rosenior (hamstring) and Robert Snodgrass (knee) are all long term absentees.

The stat which may give Stoke a bit of confidence is that Hull have won just one of their last 12 away games, a 3-1 win over Sunderland on Boxing Day. However Hull should beware, Stoke have scored a 90th minute goal in two of their last three games, and with the recent disappointment of Manchester City’s late equaliser still fresh in Hull fan’s minds, they’ll be keen not to have a repeat.

Last time these two sides met the game finished 1-1 at the KC Stadium, but with N’Doye and Nikica Jelavic seemingly hitting form together, the Potters need to be wary of their goalscoring threat.