Preview: Hull City vs. Middlesbrough

Hull City play host to Middlesbrough in the Championship this weekend, looking to firm up their grip on the automatic promotion places.

Steve Bruce's side hold second place, seven points behind leaders Cardiff City, and just one ahead of in-form Watford directly below them.

Bruce will be forced to shuffle the pack with Jack Hobbs absent due to an ankle problem. Alex Bruce is expected to drop back into defence, and Corry Evans is likely to take up a holding midfield role.

Hull, in erratic form with three wins and three defeats in their last six, will be hoping to steady the ship against an out-of-favour Middlesbrough.

Tony Mowbray's team have failed to win in their last five attempts, with four of those outings ending in defeat, a run that has left a sizable dent in Middlesbrough's promotion aspirations.

Recent form

Hull: WLWLWL

Boro: WLLLLD

Possible starting lineups

Hull: Stockdale, Chester, Evans, Bruce, Koren, Faye, Elmohamady, Gedo, Simpson, Brady, Boyd

Boro: Steele, Hoyte, Bikey, Friend, Williams, McEachran, Haroun, Leadbitter, Ameobi, Miller, McDonald

Sports Mole says: 1-2