Hull City and Blackpool square off at the MKM Stadium on Boxing Day with both clubs looking to boost their survival hopes in the Championship.

The two clubs occupy 21st and 22nd position in the standings respectively having each collected just two points from their most recent three fixtures.

Match preview

Having taken the decision to appoint Liam Rosenior as the club's new head coach, the Hull hierarchy are confident that they have made the right call, and there are signs on the pitch that they may well have done just that.

Although just six points have been collected from five matches, Hull look far more solid in defence that they did under his predecessors with just one defeat coming since November 5.

At some stage, however, Hull will need to turn draws into victories, and being held by a Sunderland side who played the final 31 minutes with 10 men was perceived to be a missed opportunity.

That is despite Hull coming from behind in that contest, yet four of Rosenior's points have now come from a losing position.

Hull now face a potentially-pivotal period of their season, with games against Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic and Huddersfield Town all to follow before the middle of January.

From Blackpool's perspective, the World Cup break undoubtedly came at the right time for Michael Appleton and his team after a run of four successive defeats.

Although three of the losses came by one-goal margins, the Tangerines were on the wrong end of scorelines against some of the teams around them.

However, Appleton can be left satisfied with draws versus Birmingham City and Cardiff City since the return to competitive action, even if his side do currently sit in the bottom three.

That will change if they can end a six-match winless streak on Monday, but Appleton knows that they will sit five points adrift of their fellow strugglers if they succumb to defeat om Humberside.

Team News

Having scored as a substitute last weekend, Ozan Tufan could be rewarded with a return to the Hull midfield.

Rosenior may opt against further alterations, leaving Chelsea loanee Harvey Vale on the substitutes' bench despite making just his second outing of the season last time out.

Blackpool will be able to call upon Marvin Ekpiteta after the centre-back completed his ban for a red card against Wigan Athletic before the World Cup break.

However, with Appleton's side having improved in his absence, he may have to make do with a spot among the replacements.

Ian Poveda-Ocampo is in line for a recall after providing the assist for Blackpool's equaliser versus Cardiff, although the wide player could replace one of a number of players.

Hull City possible starting lineup:
Ingram; Coyle, Christie, McLaughlin, Greaves; Woods, Seri; Smith, Tufan, Longman; Estupinan

Blackpool possible starting lineup:
Grimshaw; Connolly, Williams, Husband, Garbutt; Poveda-Ocampo, Dougall, Patino, Yates; Carey, Madine

We say: Hull City 2-1 Blackpool

This has all the makings of being a tense match, each team aware of the significance of a defeat even at this stage of the campaign. For us, however, Hull are growing in confidence under Rosenior, and we expect the Tigers to edge this contest by the odd goal in three.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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