Cardiff City will be hoping to climb out of the relegation zone when they host Hull City in the Premier League this weekend.

Club captain Mark Hudson is expected to be available after missing the last couple of weeks with a hamstring injury, but Jordan Mutch and Gary Medel are both sidelined.

The Bluebirds have struggled for form in February, losing to Welsh rivals Swansea City and playing to a goalless draw with Aston Villa, before being knocked out of the FA Cup by Wigan Athletic last weekend.

Meanwhile, Steve Bruce is expected to be boosted by the return of Liam Rosenior, while Joe Dudgeon, who has been a long-term absentee with a knee injury, has stepped up his training in recent weeks.

However, Robbie Brady will miss out after suffering a setback to his recovery from a groin injury while training at the weekend, while Paul McShane will miss the rest of the season after damaging his ankle ligaments against Southampton last week.

The Tigers have been in patchy form recently, with two wins, two draws and two defeats in their last six matches.

Since securing the automatic promotion places in the Championship last season, there have been contrasting campaigns from these two sides, with Hull pushing for a place in the top half of the table, while Cardiff are embroiled in the relegation battle.

In their match at the KC Stadium in September, the teams played to a 1-1 draw.

Howard Webb, who came in for criticism following Liverpool's defeat to Arsenal in the Cup last Sunday, will take charge of the game.

Recent form

Cardiff: WLWLDL

Hull: WLDWLD

Possible starting lineups

Cardiff: Marshall, Theophile-Catherine, Caulker, Hudson, Turner, John, Gunnarsson, Zaha, Noone, Campbell, Jones

Hull: McGregor, McShane, Rosenior, Bruce, Davies, Huddlestone, Livermore, Elmohamady, Meyler, Jelavic, Long

Sports Mole says: 1-1 draw