Despite the ten point gap between us and the relegation zone, this could easily be considered a six-pointer. Maybe I’m an optimist, but I don’t really feel threatened by relegation. We’ve certainly had some torrid performances, and we’ve certainly had some torrid results. We’ve definitely been on relegation form at various points in the season yet I always sensed we had enough quality about us to eventually pull away. We could be starting to see us do that, although perhaps this upturn in performance will soon subside.
Hull are four points below us, a gap that could easily close to one on Saturday if we’re not careful. They are on form, getting results. Four wins and one draw in their last five games is a brilliant run for a team that was seriously struggling until recently. They’ve gone from a team second bottom who’re three points adrift, to six points above the relegation zone. They’ve beaten Barnsley, Birmingham, Cardiff and Millwall, and drew with Reading in their most recent fixture. The draw against Reading was not an ideal result, but still represented another point added to the ever-increasing gap between them and the bottom two.
Reasons to Be Fearful
Hull have a few players worth being aware of, if you wanted to impress your pub mates with your basic football knowledge. The first is Keane Lewis-Potter, a brilliant name first and foremost. He’s their top goal scorer this season, albeit with just four goals, and he’s also chalked up three assists. He’s mobile, technical and will happily run with the ball. If the game is open, he’ll benefit from the spaces in between defence and midfield. He played mainly as a forward last season in League One, where he notched 13 goals by the end of the year. He’s been playing in either wing-back role recently, which suits his mobility and reflects his ambidextrousness.
Malik Wilks is another threat going forward for The Tigers, a strong, powerful runner. He possesses a pretty hard shot with his left foot; when it hits the target you’re in trouble. 19 goals for him in League One last season, some would’ve expected him to have notched up more than three at this point in the season. He’ll be a runner all game, being a nuisance and putting our defenders under pressure. He scored from a good 25 yards out last weekend, albeit thanks to a slight keeper error.
Tom Huddlestone is a bit of a big name currently playing for them, I wonder if Semenyo still holds a grudge when he sees his name After all it was TH who Semenyo tackled to get sent off in that crucial match against Derby County way back when. Semenyo played well on the weekend against the Rams this time around, hopefully he’ll do some more demon exorcising tomorrow.
James, Matty James
I imagine I was representative of a lot of Bristol City fans who were quite underwhelmed when Matty James was signed. There was the obvious Pearson connection, understandable that Nige would want someone he knew and trusted in the heart of his team. We’d heard good things from Barnsley and Coventry fans, but would he really make that much of a difference to our side? The answer so far this season has been a definite Yes! Maybe we should call him the big yellow taxi because when he was out of the side we really struggled to get moving. Bakinson, Massengo and Williams have all had their moments this campaign but we’ve yet to see any consistency from any of them. Especially consistently performing as a group.
The return of James is massive, we need some consistency in the middle of midfield and he will certainly bring that. He’s Mr Dependable for us, in a season where we needed dependable players. You’d hope he’s not rushed back to fitness like Joe Williams has been a few times. I hope James starts tomorrow, even if he doesn’t play the full 90, his tenacity and calmness on the ball will be welcomed.
