Rubén Sellés' Hull City face Sunderland in an early kick-off this weekend in the Sky Bet Championship. Let's build up to the game at the Stadium of Light in our pre-match preview!
The Opposition:
So far this season, the Black Cats have recorded 62 points from their 33 league games and sit in fourth place in the Championship table.
Régis Le Bris’ side come into this match on the back of a 2-1 away defeat at Leeds United on Monday night. They went out of the Carabao Cup and FA Cup at the first round and third round stages respectively after losses to Preston North End and Stoke City.
In the January transfer window, the Black Cats made three signings. Wilson Isidor [pictured] signed a permanent contract with the club, with the striker scoring against the Tigers in the previous encounter against the two sides and more recently in their last fixture against Leeds.
The Black Cats also brought in Roma midfielder Enzo Le Fée on loan, along with Liverpool striker Jayden Danns on a temporary basis.
Fellow forward Aaron Connolly left the club permanently, joining Championship side Millwall. Five players also departed on loan, with Zak Johnson, Nazariy Rusyn, Adil Aouchiche, Abdoullah Ba and Nathan Bishop all heading out.
Press Call:
Head Coach Rubén Sellés and midfielder Steven Alzate spoke to members of the press ahead of the Sunderland fixture. Here is what they had to say:
Rubén Sellés:
"The boys have trained very well and we’re looking forward to the game at the weekend." - Sellés on the week of preparation.
"The approach needs to be the same as usual in the performance. We need to be ourselves and try to play with our identity and pick the players who we believe can give us that performance for every part of the game and then try to manage the key moments of the game - this has been a big thing for us. Also, trying to use different arguments in the style of play that we have been pressing with the one striker or as a three. We need to go there and choose a proper shape and use the personnel that we think will be ready for the game." - Sellés on his game plan for Saturday.
"When you are as competitive as they are and you have been as competitive as they were in that game [against Leeds], it’s more about the next time when they need to do this or that to beat anybody. They did a fantastic performance for 65-70 minutes. They controlled the game and against Leeds, which is a powerful team, I thought they were as good as Leeds and the fact that they lost the game in two set-plays, it can happen to anybody - it happened to Leeds against us." - Sellés on Sunderland.
Steven Alzate:
"Sunderland away is not going to be an easy game. Whether it’s Sunderland or another team in the division, any game in this league can go either way - you’ve got to respect every team you come up against in this league. We need to go into that game believing in what we can do and hopefully, we can have a good game like we have recently and pick up a result." - Alzate ahead of Sunderland.
"I have definitely enjoyed my time under the gaffer. He’s given me his trust and that works both ways because I feel like I have been playing well, so if he gives me his trust and I play well, he’ll want to keep playing me and I am really enjoying the responsibility." - Alzate on working under Sellés.
"Right now, we have a big squad and a lot of midfielders, but every player that’s played in that position has done a really good job and each player knows his task because in training we go over and over it, so whoever is called upon, they know exactly what they need to do. In my case, with whoever I am playing with in midfield, I know I can trust them to do what they need to do and vice versa. All the midfielders bring their own qualities and different traits and I am confident enough that they’ll do a good job." - Alzate on the midfield dynamic.
Team News:
Head coach Rubén Sellés confirmed that defenders Charlie Hughes and Fin Burns have returned to training and could feature against Sunderland.
The Spaniard also gave updates on the fitness of Kasey Palmer, who is nearing a return to the squad, while other than Liam Millar, Mohamed Belloumi and Doğukan Sinik, the Tigers have a good selection of fit players to pick from.
He said: "Charlie Hughes and Fin Burns trained with us twice during this week. We have one more training session and then we will see, but it looks like both can be selectable if I decide. Both of them, first Charlie and then Fin, got injured while playing for us [under Rubén] and were consistent in our lineup, so to hopefully have them back for the weekend will give us more options and it’s always good for us.
"Everything is about performance, so they need to show me that they are ready for the performance and then it’ll be for me to decide from the trainings. When we have seen what we want from them, we need to decide if they will be competitive for the weekend. It’s a good problem to have.
Sellés continued: "Kasey is back on the grass. He partially trained with us. We got good news from the scan. He should complete his first full training session next week. Let’s see; I don’t think he’s going to be ready for the midweek game, maybe for the next one he can have a role - we’ll see.
"No other concerns as of today. It’s Thursday, so we have one more training and hopefully nothing will happen and everyone will be selectable for the game."
