Tigers needing greatest of escapes to survive
IF HULL City aren’t playing their football in League One next term then they will have pulled off the greatest of great escapes on the final day of 2019/20.
Bottom of the Championship and three points from safety, the Tigers aren’t yet mathematically relegated, but have been left needing something of a miracle following Saturday’s damaging home defeat to fellow strugglers Luton Town.
Grant McCann’s men head to Cardiff tonight, knowing that nothing other than a victory will suffice. They absolutely have to take care of business. If they don’t then they’re down regardless of what happens elsewhere.
Beating the Bluebirds will however be much easier said than done.
Cardiff sit sixth in the table and know that if they win the game then it will guarantee qualification for the play-offs. As if any extra incentive were needed, success on the night would also mean that the Welsh outfit prevent arch-rivals Swansea from leap-frogging them into the top-six.
Factor in that Hull have only managed to come out on top of one of their last 19 league outings – losing 15 of those games while conceding no fewer than 60 goals – and their chances don’t look too good.
And that’s not even half the battle, with City reliant on a number of other results going their way.
But, the 12-point penalty looming over Wigan Athletic means that they, along with Luton and Barnsley could yet be overtaken by the Tigers.
The odds, however, are not exactly in Hull’s favour.
McCann and his troops are reliant on Wigan, defeated just once in their last 14, failing to beat Fulham at home.
They also require a Luton side who have lost only one of their eight matches post-lockdown to lose on home soil to Blackburn, plus resurgent Barnsley to fail to get the better of Brentford.
“We are on the brink, there’s no point hiding, but it’s still mathematically possible that we can stay up,” McCann conceded.
“We need to win, first and foremost before we worry about anyone else. We’re obviously relying on others for the first time and that’s our own fault.” Last six: Cardiff: DWLLWW Hull: WLLLLL Referee: James Linington (Newport).
Last Time: Cardiff City 1 (Bamba, 57) Hull City 0, December 16 2017, Championship.