Town boss Kieran McKenna says Tuesday’s opponents Hull City have shown they can win games in different ways this season with the Tigers very much in the promotion hunt, currently level on points with the Blues, behind them on goal difference alone.

Having finished fourth-bottom of the Championship last season, the East Yorkshire side, who go into Tuesday’s match having played one more game than Town, have been something of a surprise package this term.

“They’ve been a big threat to teams and they’ve won in really different ways,” McKenna said, speaking after Saturday’s 3-0 home victory over Swansea. “An opponent that we’ll fully respect and prepare for because they’ve shown they can win high-scoring games and score lots of goals and they’ve shown that they can defend and nick games as well.

“And they’ve been incredibly efficient in their attacking play in terms of the goals they’ve scored compared to the chances they create. They’ve got real final-third quality with the players that they have.

“And they’ve shown they can dig in and defend at the other end, so they’ve been a big threat all season and they’ll be a big threat here on Tuesday night, so it’s up to us to be ready for that.”

Hull have won their last two, a 1-0 victory at Portsmouth on Saturday their first away match after five in a row at home, following a 4-2 win against Derby. Against Pompey they recorded only two shots and against the Rams just three, an own goal providing one of the goals. illustrating McKenna’s efficiency point.

However, prior to the last two games, they had gone four without a win in all competitions, three defeats - one in the FA Cup against Chelsea at the MKM - and one draw.

Hull have the best away record in the Championship, having picked up 30 points from their 16 games on their travels, nine wins, four draws and two defeats. Town, 10th in an away table, have recorded 22 from 16.

The Tigers have won their last five on the road - the first time they have enjoyed such a run since 1966 - and are unbeaten in eight on the road, seven wins and one draw, surprisingly a 2-2 stalemate at Sheffield Wednesday.

Only two sides in the division have scored more away goals than their total of 28 and just three have conceded fewer than the 20 they have shipped.

Bosnian head coach Sergej Jakirovic, who was appointed in the summer following the departure of Ruben Selles, has made an impressive adjustment to working in the Championship.

“Yes, I’m sure they’re really happy with where they’re at,” McKenna continued. “He’s obviously doing a good job and they’re an opponent that we’ll fully respect and we look forward to the game.

“We’ll prepare as well as we can but we’ll ultimately focus on ourselves and recover well now and get back out here on Tuesday night and try and deliver another really good performance.”

While Swansea sought to take the game to Town at the weekend, plenty of sides visiting Portman Road this season have come with the aim of doing little other than frustrating the Blues.

Asked what approach he anticipates the Tigers taking, McKenna said: “They’ve done it in really different ways. They’ve won 4-3s and had open games against people.

“If I’m honest and look at some of their games against the best teams, they did a really good job away to Middlesbrough and Southampton, teams like that, with really good defending, counter-attacking performances, so they’re a versatile team.

“Lots of experienced players at the back, some real quality in the front area of the pitch, so they’re a dangerous opponent and we have to be ready for them to threaten us in different ways, and we have to go and try and threaten them in in as many different ways as possible.”

Town won the match at the MKM Stadium back in November 2-0 but the game was tight for long spells with the Blues’ subs once again playing a significant role in securing the three points.

“A clean sheet gives you a great chance and gives us a chance to use our bench to good effect, and that was a night when we did that,” McKenna recalled.

“We grew into the game. I think we came out really strong in the second half and there were impacts from off the bench as well, so let’s see what Tuesday night brings.”

The game is the second of three home games in eight days, Leicester City visit on Saturday, with matches continuing to come thick and fast after that, and as ever McKenna will assess his squad before naming his XI.

“We’ll have a look at it,” he said. “We know the schedule we’re in, seven games in 21 days or something like that, so I’m pretty sure none of our forward area of the pitch players are going to play in every game.

“That wouldn’t give us the best chance of being successful or the best chance of those players performing to their best either, so we’ll utilise different people at different times in different ways and hopefully we’ll be successful with it.”

Hull’s visit to the Blues is the only Championship fixture on Tuesday with the match one of Town’s games in hand having originally been slated for the weekend when McKenna’s side were in FA Cup fourth round action at Wrexham.

The Team

McKenna probably won’t change things in his defence with Christian Walton continuing in goal behind a back four of Darnell Furlong, who is now on nine yellow cards with a 10th leading to a two-game ban, skipper Dara O’Shea, Cedric Kipre and Leif Davis.

In midfield, McKenna could bring in either Jack Taylor or Jens Cajuste for Dan Neil, who has started the last two matches but is still short on match fitness having played little for parent club Sunderland in the first half of the season.

Azor Matusiwa, who remains on nine bookings having gone 14 matches without a yellow card with another four fixtures to be played before the cut-off, will take up his usual role.

Ahead of them, McKenna could bring back Sindre Walle Egeli on the right with Jack Clarke appearing certain to come back on the left.

The Blues boss may return Anis Mehmeti to the number 10 role with Marcelino Nunez not long back from his ankle injury.

Ivan Azon has started the last five Championship matches as the central striker, so McKenna may opt to start George Hirst, who has netted twice in two games from the bench, this time around.

The Opposition

Hull City, who follow their visit to Portman Road with a home game against third-placed Millwall on Saturday, are hoping to have central defender and one-time Blues trialist Semi Ajayi back in their squad for their visit to Portman Road, the Nigeria international having been out of action since suffering a hamstring injury at the Africa Cup of Nations in January.

Midfielder Toby Collyer, who joined on loan from Manchester United in January, could also return to the party which travels to Suffolk, also after a hamstring issue.

However, left-backs Ryan Giles (hamstring) and Matty Jacob (MCL) are set to miss out along with midfielder Darko Gyabi (groin), who is expected to be out for the season.

Winger Yu Hirakawa, who signed on loan from Bristol City in January, has an ankle injury which looks set to require surgery.

Eliot Matazo (ACL) and Mo Belloumi (hamstring) are both on the way back from injuries but not ready to return to action.

Jakirovic says Town hold no fears despite having the second-best home record in the division having won seven of their last eight in the Championship at Portman Road.

“I'm not afraid of Ipswich,” he told BBC Radio Humberside. “It will be a very good game because already we have shown this season we can play good football against them. I just hope it's a good game.

“We must keep going forward. We now have 60 points, and it's not by accident.

“Sometimes you lose the game, sometimes you win, but we are in a good position. We will push more.

“Everything is on us. We must give everything so that at the end of the season we don't regret anything. So, give everything without any stress of any pressure, just enjoying the ride.”

History

Historically, Hull have the edge on the Blues having won 19 of the games between the teams (18 in the league), while Town have been victorious 11 times (11) and a further 12 (12) matches have been draws.

The Blues are unbeaten in four against the Tigers, winning three, but prior to that had gone 14 matches in all competitions without beating them.

At the MKM Stadium in November, second-half goals from Marcelino Nunez and Chuba Akpom saw Town to a 2-0 victory.

After a less than enthralling first half, Nunez broke the deadlock with a header on 69 and one-time Tigers loanee Akpom stabbed home his first goal for the club four minutes later to seal a third successive away win for the Blues.

The teams last met at Portman Road in October 2023 when the Blues returned to the top of the Championship after a comprehensive 3-0 defeat of Hull, who had gone into the match unbeaten in eight.

Wes Burns got the game off to the perfect start with a powerful strike in the fifth minute with Town dominating the first half before Conor Chaplin made it 2-0 four minutes before the break.

The Blues, who put in their best performance of the season up to that point, sealed the victory with Marcus Harness’s first of the campaign on 65.

Familiar Faces

Town forward Jaden Philogene was with Hull City in 2023/24 having signed from Aston Villa, scoring 12 goals in 32 games before returning to the Birmingham club the following summer after they utilised their buy-back option, gazumping the Blues, who had a deal agreed. The former England U21 international eventually joined Town from Villa the following January.

Centre-half Jacob Greaves is from Hull and came through the ranks with the Tigers, where his father Mark had been a player, before breaking into the senior side and making 173 starts and four sub appearances, scoring six times before moving to Town in the summer of 2024.

Currently injured Town full-back Conor Townsend is also from Hull and another former Tigers academy player.

The 32-year-old made one sub senior appearance and spent time on loan at a number of clubs before departing to Scunthorpe on a permanent basis.

Forward Akpom had a spell on loan with the Tigers in 2015/16, scoring seven times in 22 starts and 19 sub appearances.

Blues first-team coach Sone Aluko was with Hull between the summers of 2012 and 2016, making 64 starts and 44 sub appearances, scoring 15 times.

The former Nigeria international was part of the team which won promotion from the Championship after finishing second in 2012/13 and played in the Premier League in the following two seasons. He came on as a substitute in the 2014 FA Cup final defeat to Arsenal.

City centre-half Ajayi was on trial with Town in January 2015 while an Arsenal player when he started a game for the U21s but failed to win a deal.

The Blues were keen to sign midfielder Matt Crooks, who scored the winner at Pompey at the weekend, in the summer of 2021 when the midfielder joined Middlesbrough from Rotherham. He moved on to Hull in January last year.

Town’s Wembley 2000 play-off final man of the match Richard Naylor is academy manager at Hull.

Officials

Tuesday’s referee is Lewis Smith, the assistants Alex James and Sam Lewis, and the fourth official Dean Whitestone.

Lancashire-based Smith has shown 83 yellow cards and two red cards in 23 games so far this season.

Coincidentally, his most recent Town game was the Blues win at Hull in November in which he yellow-carded Greaves, Cajuste and two home players.

In May, he was in the middle for the 2-2 draw at Everton in which he booked Hirst, Delap, Chaplin, Sam Morsy and four Tigers.

Prior to that, he was in charge of the 4-3 defeat at Brentford in October 2024 in which he booked Davis and showed Harry Clarke two yellow cards and then a red with both having an element of controversy.

The first led to a penalty given by VAR with the challenge appearing to have started outside the area and the second when the defender, who was making his first Premier League start, had clearly won the ball.

Smith also took charge of the Blues in last season’s 1-1 home draw with Fulham in August 2024 in which he cautioned Morsy, Ali Al-Hamadi and three Cottagers.

He also refereed the previous meeting between the Blues and Whites, in the Carabao Cup tie during the previous campaign, in which he booked Taylor, Marcus Harness and three of the visitors.

Smith’s only Town match prior to that was the second-round Carabao Cup tie at Reading a couple of months earlier, which the Blues won 3-1 on penalties after a 2-2 draw.

George Edmundson, Lee Evans, Cameron Humphreys and two home players were cautioned during that fixture.

Squad From

Walton, Palmer, Williamson, Furlong, Johnson, Davis, O’Shea (c), Greaves, Kipre, Matusiwa, Cajuste, Neil, Taylor, Clarke, Burns, Walle Egeli, McAteer, Nunez, Mehmeti, Akpom, Hirst, Azon.

Photo: TWTD