Hull City host Burnley at the KCOM stadium in the hope they can continue their new found home form under Marco Silva. Burnley have struggled on the road which should give the Tigers some confidence. For the Tigers, this game could see them out of the relegation zone and for the Clarets, it would bring an end to a poor run of form before it really gets started.

In the previous fixture, Robert Snodgrass scored a last minute free kick after Steven Defour scored on his debut for the Clarets. With Snodgrass now at West Ham, and Defour missing through injury, both teams will be in search for new heroes, which both managers have found in recent weeks.

Sam Clucas is suspended for the Tigers, Dieumerci Mbokani is missing through illness, however Abel Hernandez could return after recovering from a hamstring injury. Johann Berg Gudmundsson is out after injuring a knee ligament against Lincoln in the FA Cup last weekend, Defour is injured and Jeff Hendrick is still suspended.

How will the mid season retreat effect the Tigers?

The Tigers should be rejuvenated after a week and a half away in Portugal. However, according to Silva, the pressure ‘always stays with the team and the coaches.’ Silva and his team aren’t getting carried away with their recent success either, as he says they are just taking it one game at a time.

Despite Burnley’s poor away form over the season, Silva insists ‘it’s one game more’ and the team ‘respect Burnley’. Continuing their good form with a win will take them out of the relegation, even if it only is temporarily. Silva says that the Tigers ‘want to prove themselves on the pitch’ against last years Championship winners.

Dyche optomistic ahead of potentially daunting run.

Sean Dyche’s men are stating a run of four away games in a row, but in true Dyche style, he’s looking at it positively, believing ‘the timings magnificent’. He knows that Hull City’s current good run might make them the favourites because ‘everyone looks at the form book’.

However, Dyche thinks his team may have an advantage over the Tigers because of the pressure to escape the grasp of relegation saying ‘Statistics work in your favour over a season...because the pressure is on the opposition’.

This fixture last season brought a 3-0 win for the Tigers on boxing day of 2015.

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Luke Williamson
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