Hull City vs Swansea City. Sky Bet Championship.
MKM StadiumAttendance9,757.
Watch live on Sky Sports Football from 7pm on Friday; kick-off is at 7.45pm
Friday 14 February 2020 21:10, UK
Hull face Swansea in the Sky Bet Championship on Friday night, live on Sky Sports Football.
Hull boss Grant McCann has received a rare injury boost with three of his squad returning to training. Defenders Ryan Tafazolli and Matthew Pennington and midfielder Kevin Stewart were among 12 players who missed the defeat to Blackburn on Tuesday but they are all in contention to return.
That news will come as a welcome relief for McCann, who this week discovered Eric Lichaj and Herbie Kane are expected to miss the remainder of the season with ankle ligament injuries. Jon Toral is back in training but the match comes too soon for him, while Jordy de Wijs, Reece Burke, Martin Samuelsen and Angus MacDonald will be back in training next week, with Josh Bowler and James Scott still out.
Swansea boss Steve Cooper suffered a blow this week with the news that George Byers will miss the rest of the season. The midfielder suffered a high ankle sprain in last weekend's home defeat to Derby and now faces three months on the sidelines.
The Swans will again be without defender Mike van der Hoorn, who is due to start training again next week after a knee injury. Cooper has no fresh injury worries.
Hull have endured a miserable start to 2020; not only have they lost key players Jarrod Bowen and Kamil Grosicki, they have lost five of their last six Championship fixtures. The latest came on Tuesday night, when they were beaten 3-0 by Blackburn at Ewood Park.
Steve Cooper's Swansea aren't on the best run of form either. The stalemate against QPR in midweek was their fourth consecutive game without a win, with the last victory coming on January 18 when they beat Wigan 2-1.
Hull's Grant McCann: "Swansea are a good footballing team. Yes they've had their own struggles, but we need to focus on us and our performance and hopefully some of the boys can get some confidence back.
"We need people to stand up to the plate and take responsibility. They're a young group with a great work rate but with young players sometimes does come inconsistencies but it's our job to improve them."
Swansea's Steve Cooper: "If we want to get over that dotted line and get in the play-offs, we all need to stick together and support each other. I'll be saying the same to the players, to myself and to the staff - be strong, support each other, demand more of each other and go for it."
"We need to go for this. If you can go for things being together, you give yourself a better chance."
A season that once looked promising has taken a massive downturn for Hull in recent weeks. Just a point has been picked up in the last six games, and the club are now no longer looking up. Confidence has hit the floor, too, after the departures of key men Jarrod Bowen and Kamil Grosicki on Deadline Day.
There are 10 points between themselves and the relegation zone now, which seems a hefty gap, but it's one that can be chewed up quickly if they keep losing. Just over 40 points has been enough to keep you up in the last two campaigns, but Blackburn were relegated in 2017 with 51. A couple more wins should do the trick, but right now it's hard to see where they are going to come from for Grant McCann's side.
Hull have won nine of their last 11 home games in all competitions against Swansea (W9 D1 L1), winning the last four in a row.
Swansea are looking to complete a league double over Hull for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
Hull have lost their last five home matches in all competitions, their worst run at the KC Stadium since September 2018 (six in a row).
Swansea have won just one of their last nine away games in all competitions (W1 D4 L4), a 1-0 win at Luton in December.
Swansea are unbeaten in all four of their away league trips to Yorkshire this season, beating Leeds and drawing with each of Barnsley, Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield Town.
Hull seem to be in free-fall at the minute. They were on a bad run before Kamil Grosicki and Jarrod Bowen left, now it looks like they have no confidence whatsoever.
Swansea have fallen off a bit, too. The arrivals of Conor Gallagher and Rhian Brewster haven't quite inspired them so far. This could do either way, but I'll narrowly back Hull.
David Prutton predicts: 1-0 (9/1 with Sky Bet)
