Cardiff City travel to the KCOM Stadium on Saturday afternoon as they take on Hull City in their penultimate league fixture of the 2017/18 Sky Bet Championship season.
Hull return to home soil following an astounding 10-goal thriller at Ashton Gate last weekend, in which they drew 5-5 with Bristol City.
What to expect from the Tigers…
In their last five games, Hull have netted 16 goals, seeing them gain a positive goal difference despite having the fourth worst ‘goals conceded’ record in the division. Former Bluebird loanee, Allan McGregor, has kept a total of 12 clean sheets thus far.
The Tigers have also recorded emphatic victories over both QPR and Burton Albion in recent weeks, prior to a defeat against Sheffield Wednesday, which was their first in four games.
Former Hereford forward, Jarrod Bowen, currently sits at the summit of his Club’s goal-scoring charts, netting on 14 occasions in the current campaign. The 21 year-old last found the back of the net in a 3-0 win over Ipswich in mid-March.
Polish International, Kamil Grosicki, is another who has been a standout player for the Tigers this season, with nine goals and five assists to his name. The 29 year-old netted in those consecutive victories over QPR and Burton, scoring a brace in the latter to condemn the Brewers to defeat.
Meanwhile, Welsh international winger, Harry Wilson, has also made a huge impact since arriving on loan from Liverpool at the end of January. The 21 year-old has scored seven goals from 11 league appearances.
In the hot seat…
Born in Birkenhead, former goalkeeper Nigel Adkins’ managerial career got off to a flying start as he won consecutive Welsh League titles as player-manager with Bangor City in both the 1993/94 and 1994/95 seasons.
The 53 year-old has four promotions to his name, twice with Scunthorpe United – who he managed from 2006-2010 – and successful back-to-back campaigns with Southampton as he famously guided them to the Premier League in 2012.
Spells with Reading and Sheffield United soon followed before he took over from Leonid Slutsky in December 2017, and has won nine of his 27 games at the helm in East Yorkshire.
Previous meetings…
Our reverse fixture against the Tigers back in mid-December saw a Sol Bamba header steer the Bluebirds to a 1-0 victory at Cardiff City Stadium.
One of the standout fixtures between the two sides in recent years was back in the 2012/13 season when the Bluebirds were crowned champions and the Tigers claimed second-place following a 2-2 draw. Ex-City striker Nicky Maynard came off the bench following a long-term injury to score a 90th minute penalty at the KCOM Stadium.
Club connections…
Another ex-Bluebird in the form of Fraizer Campbell scored City’s first on that day, and the 30 year-old is now enjoying his second spell on Humberside.
The aforementioned McGregor, and his goalkeeping partner, City hero David Marshall, are also in the Tigers' squad. Marshy joined the Tigers in the summer of 2016 after making 281 appearances as a Bluebird.
Other players to play for both ourselves and Saturday’s opponents include Lee Peltier, Seyi Olofinjana and Ben Amos.