EXPERT VIEW Now’s the time for City’s unity
Hull City’s trip to Wigan Atheltic, the penultimate away game of this Championship season, always carried the potential to be significant but not nearly as significant as it has become.
This crucial date at the DW Stadium has veered into do-or-die territory for both clubs.
Wigan undeniably need the win more after being hit with a 12-point deduction this month but City’s survival is also very much in the balance.
Saturday’s third straight defeat against Millwall demands a reaction to restore belief in this ailing team.
The EFL punishment facing Wigan might be of some comfort but that will soon disappear if the Tigers were to lose again.
Luton, visitors to the KCOM Stadium on Saturday, might also jump ahead.
City have not coped well with the pressures of a relegation fight to this point and that has to change in these final nine days of the season. Without finding a win, surely the game will be up.
Paul Cook’s Wigan side will certainly back themselves to find a win that would draw them level with City in a revised table.
The Latics have taken 27 more points than City in 2020 and kept clean sheets in nine of their last 10 games.
The form book emphatically favours Wigan but maybe, just maybe, this is when the Tigers can dig deep. Survival depends on it.
Prediction: Wigan 1 Hull City 1
Cook will be forced into changing his Wigan side after defender Danny Fox was shown a red card in Saturday’s 0-0 draw away to Barnsley.
Kal Naismith, who is a midfielder or forward, by trade appears likely to deputise alongside Cedric Kipre after assuming those defensive duties earlier in the season.
That would leave a void to fill higher up the pitch, with Gavin Massey, Gary Roberts and Joe Gelhardt in contention should Cook have to reshuffle.
Cook is also without the suspended Joe Garner for City’s visit after he was sent off in their 3-0 loss at Brentford. This will be the final game of his three-match ban.
Cook will be conscious of the physical demands his team have faced in the last fortnight as he asks for one last push towards survival. Leon Balogun could be in a position to return from a groin injury but will require a late fitness test.
Grant Mccann will again consider alterations to his City side for what will be their fifth game in 12 days away to relegation rivals Wigan Athletic.
Herbie Kane misses out with his hamstring injury but there are other options as Mccann attempts to avert a fourth consecutive defeat.
Dan Batty and Josh Magennis both impressed off the bench in the 1-0 defeat at home to Wigan and could come into Mccann’s reckoning, while Jon Toral and James Scott could also add creativity.
It was Reece Burke who took on the mantle of playing as City’s latest right-back against the Lions and could be asked to continue there due to the lack of options.
Kevin Stewart and Tom Eaves will be among those sweating on their inclusion after below-par performances against Millwall at the weekend.
Hull City’s past meets its present at the DW Stadium as David Marshall comes up against his old understudy George Long.
Marshall was the Tigers’ number one throughout last season, leaving as a free agent after three up and down years in East Yorkshire.
Wigan were only too happy to sign up the Scotland international and he is coming very good in the season’s final weeks. The veteran has kept nine clean sheets in his last 10 games, more than Long has managed all season.
City’s number one has now gone 17 league games since he kept an opponent at bay. Ending that long wait at Wigan would be enormous.
Cook’s side have been quite magnificent since the start of February.
Nine wins have come from their last 15 games and only twice have they been beaten. For good measure, nine of the last 10 outings
There’s no question who begins this fixture with the wind in their sails. Wigan’s run of one defeat in the last 12 games makes them the odds-on favourties at 10/11, with Hull City priced at 3/1 to find their own much-needed victory.
The draw would undoubtedly suit the Tigers more and that is 13/5.
It was a 2-2 draw when these teams met at the KCOM Stadium in September and, unlikely as that feels on recent goalscoring form, that is attractively priced at 15/1. A Wigan clean-sheet at 6/4 shows how tight they have been defensively.
City need a goalscoring hero. Magennis is 9/1 to find the net first on his likely return to the starting XI, while Mallik Wilks also attracts interest at 12/1. Why not look at Jordy de Wijs again, though. City have been dangerous from setpieces and is a 50/1 shot.
All odds supplied by Thepools. com
Referee: Tony Harrington (Cumbria)
Assistants: Paul Hodskinson and Andrew Fox
Fourth Official: Jeremy Simpson