Hull City play host to Preston North End on Saturday, with both sides looking to build on solid starts to the new Championship season.
The home side occupy a playoff spot going into this weekend's game, while Preston sit inside the top half of the table and just two points behind their opponents.
Hull City
© Getty Images
Hull have made the best start of the three relegated sides with seven points from four games, although Steve Bruce's men suffered their first defeat of the season last week at Charlton Athletic.
The Tigers looked to have rescued a point with Abel Hernandez's 89th-minute effort after Simon Makienok had given the hosts the lead, but Charlton snatched the win in the eighth minute of injury time through substitute Johann Berg Gudmundsson.
Hull won just three times on the road last season and they have now won just two of their last 22 league games away from home after the loss at The Valley.
Hull returned to winning ways in midweek with a 1-0 victory over Rochdale to progress into the third round of the League Cup.
Bruce's side currently sit fifth in the standings, three points behind joint-leaders Ipswich Town and Brighton & Hove Albion, and he will be looking to remain in touch with the automatic promotion spots even at this early stage of proceedings.
Recent form: WDWL
Recent form (all competitions): WDWLW
Preston North End
© Getty Images
Preston Boss Simon Grayson will be largely satisfied with the way that his side have adapted to life back in the Championship.
The Lillywhites went their first three games unbeaten and only suffered their first defeat of the campaign last weekend, when they went down 2-1 to promotion favourites Ipswich Town at Deepdale.
Preston impressed during the first half and went into the break level at 1-1 thanks to Daniel Johnson's goal, but a spectacular strike from Ryan Fraser in the second period saw Mick McCarthy's men take the three points back to Suffolk.
Grayson's men bounced back immediately to produce a shock result in the League Cup on Tuesday, beating Premier League Watford 1-0 to progress into the third round of the competition.
Preston's Championship experience has helped them to adapt to the step up in division so far, but a return of three goals from their four games will be a slight concern for the manager.
Joe Garner has failed to find the net so far and, with Jermaine Beckford nearing a return, Grayson will be hoping that the pair will soon rediscover their goalscoring form of last season.
Recent form: DWDL
Recent form (all competitions): DWDLW
Team News
© Getty Images
Bruce can call upon Mohamed Diame again after injury, with the midfielder making his comeback against Rochdale in midweek. However, it remains to be seen if the Frenchman is capable of starting two games in the space of a few days just yet.
Young striker Greg Luer will be hoping to have forced his way into the manager's plans, having scored the winner against Dale and his second in the League Cup so far this season.
For Preston, Beckford has returned to fitness following a knee injury and could start, while young striker Jordan Hugill is back following a suspension.
Grayson made a handful of changes to his side for the visit of Watford, with some fringe players being handed the chance to play. Daniel Johnson and Paul Gallagher were rested for the win and are expected to come back into the team for the trip to the KC Stadium.
Hull City possible starting lineup:
McGregor; Robertson, Davies, Dawson, Odubajo; Aluko, Hayden, Huddlestone, Elmohamady; Akpom, Hernandez
Preston North End possible starting lineup:
Pickford; Cunningham, Clarke, Huntingdon, Wright; Johnson, Welsh, Gallagher, Humphrey; Beckford, Garner
Head To Head
Preston hold the better record between the two sides since their first meeting 103 years ago. The Lillywhites have won 24 times to Hull's 20, and there have been 12 draws.
The teams last met in the 2010-11 Championship season, when Hull did the double over their Lancashire opponents. The Tigers won 2-0 on their last visit to Deepdale in November 2010 before winning the return fixture 1-0 the following February.
Hull are unbeaten in their last five home meetings with Preston, last tasting defeat in September 1992 when the visitors won 4-2 at Boothferry Park.
Video Preview
Hit play below to see what the Sports Mole Sofa had to say about this encounter:
We say: Hull City 2-1 Preston North End
Preston are a difficult side to beat and they will go to the KC with the intention of frustrating their hosts. However, Hull have plenty of firepower at their disposal and will probably have too much quality for Preston given their recent home record against them.
No Data Analysis info
