Hull City and Bristol City will be looking to extend encouraging starts to the season when they square off at the MKM Stadium on Friday night.
While the visitors will be content with their current 14th place in the Championship standings, the home side occupy seventh position.
Match preview
For all the solidity that Liam Rosenior brought to Hull during the second half of last season, it is fair to say that there were too many draws, results which ensured safety but left the club off the pace of any battle for the playoffs.
This time around, the Tigers have already gotten two victories and six points on the board in three matches, bouncing back from a last-gasp defeat to Norwich City on the opening weekend.
Neither performance was perfect - Hull were behind against each of Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn Rovers - but responding with a total of six goals to claim confidence-building wins can only have delighted Rosenior.
Aaron Connolly was the hero for Hull last time out, with the returning Irishman coming off the substitutes' bench to net a double in the final nine minutes at Ewood Park.
In Connolly, Liam Delap and Oscar Estupinan, Hull appear to have the firepower to challenge for a top-six spot, but they will feel like they need to take advantage of their home fixtures if they are to emerge as dark horses.
To a large extent, Bristol City are of similar standing to Hull in the second tier, with inconsistency having blighted them in 2022-23, but the ambition remaining to challenge the bigger teams.
Nigel Pearson would have been more than satisfied with four points coming from meetings with Preston North End and Millwall, but the Robins went down to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Birmingham City in their most recent outing.
A goal at the end of each half and a 76th-minute red card cost Bristol City in that contest, and they will be eager to make amends on their long trip North.
Nevertheless, this is a fixture between one of the highest goalscorers in the division (Hull with seven) and the lowest (Bristol City with two), leaving the visitors to raise their game in that area of the pitch.
Hull City Championship form:
L
W
W
Hull City form (all competitions):
L
L
W
W
Bristol City Championship form:
D
W
L
Bristol City form (all competitions):
D
W
W
L
Team News
Connolly appears in line to be provided with his first league start for Hull since his return, and he is likely to take the place of Adama Traore on the right flank.
Despite not netting since scoring on his debut, Delap should keep his spot ahead of Estupinan, but the remainder of the team could stay the same.
If Ruben Vinagre is able to be selected in the squad after injury, the left-sided player will only feature among the replacements.
Meanwhile, Bristol City will make at least one alteration with Rob Dickie serving a one-match ban for collecting two yellow cards against Blues.
Andreas Weimann could return from injury and will challenge for a starting role, as will Taylor Gardner-Hickman who has signed from West Bromwich Albion.
Hull City possible starting lineup: Ingram; Coyle, Jones, McLoughlin, Greaves; Slater, Seri; Connolly, Tufan, Twine; Delap
Bristol City possible starting lineup: O'Leary; Tanner, Vyner, Naismith, Pring; James, Williams; Sykes, Knight, Mehmeti; Bell
We say: Hull City 1-1 Bristol City
This should be a competitive encounter with both teams recognising that these are the kind of games that they need to be winning if they want to challenge for promotion. Nevertheless, we are backing a low-scoring draw, one which the visitors would be more accepting of after defeat last weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 1.5:data
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