Liam Rosenior's reign as Hull City manager will begin with a trip to Millwall for a Championship contest on Saturday.
The new boss arrives with the Tigers hovering above the relegation zone after consecutive defeats, while their hosts sit ninth and within touching distance of the playoff places.
Match preview
© Reuters
In their bid for a strong and sustained playoff push in the Championship this season, Millwall have enjoyed a pleasing start, and they sat in the top six with 26 points from the opening 16 matches.
That rise was thanks to four consecutive wins in England's second tier, as Gary Rowett's side beat Middlesbrough, Bristol City, Watford and West Bromwich Albion in October, scoring nine goals and only conceding twice with a 3-0 beating of Watford thanks to a first-half Tom Bradshaw hat-trick being the highlight.
Aiming to make it five wins on the bounce, the London outfit would travel to take on Huddersfield Town last weekend, but they left empty-handed, eventually losing 1-0 with Yuta Nakayama's eye-catching goal from long range making the difference between the sides.
They then met Birmingham City at St Andrews last time out, and after neither side managed to find a goal, they dropped behind Preston North End and down to ninth spot in the top flight.
The Lions are now tasked with bouncing back and putting their ninth league win of the campaign on the board on Saturday, with sixth-placed Watford and fifth-placed Norwich City only two points ahead heading into the weekend.
© Reuters
They welcome a Hull City side under new management following Liam Rosenior's appointment on Thursday.
After making a seemingly positive start to the season under the stewardship of Shota Arveladze, the Tigers quickly hit a tough patch and the former boss was dismissed at the end of September after four straight defeats left them 20th in the Championship.
Andy Dawson would then take over as caretaker manager and oversee a mixed run of form, with a 2-1 win over Wigan Athletic surrounded by three further defeats at the hands of Luton Town, Huddersfield Town and Birmingham City in his first four matches, before they successfully put back-to-back victories on the board away at Blackpool and Rotherham United, scoring seven goals across the two matches.
The Tigers would be unable to sustain that form, though, falling to two more defeats in the last week with Dawson's final game in charge being a 3-1 loss at home to Middlesbrough, with Tobias Figueiredo and Cyrus Christie scoring own goals in the final 30 minutes after the latter had initially levelled the scoring on the hour mark.
Such results have seen the Yorkshire outfit drop to 21st spot in the Championship, and with just a one-point lead over the relegation zone, Rosenior will hope to have an instant impact and begin with a victory on Saturday as he looks to guide his new side away from danger.
Team News
© Reuters
Millwall come into Saturday's game without defender Murray Wallace, who is suspended after picking up a fifth league yellow card of the season last time out, while centre-back Shaun Hutchinson is expected to continue a spell in the treatment room alongside Ryan Leonard.
Scott Malone will come into the defence in Wallace's absence, with Charlie Cresswell set to partner Jake Cooper at the heart of the back line, while Billy Mitchell and George Saville should again operate at the base of midfield.
Tom Bradshaw will be vying to come back in from the outset and lead the line, after Andreas Voglsammer was preferred up front against Birmingham, while summer signing Zian Flemming, who leads the Lions' scoring charts with five goals in the Championship so far this season, will remain a key man in the supporting trio behind whichever lone striker is deployed.
Hull City continue to deal with several injury issues, as Benjamin Tetteh and Allahyar Sayyadmanesh are out of contention in attack, while Callum Elder will be unable to feature at the back.
In his first game at the helm, Rosenior could deploy a midfield trio of Jean-Michael Seri, Ryan Woods and Ozan Tufan, while the likes of Regan Slater, Dogukan Sinik and Dimitrios Pelkas are vying for creative roles behind the front line.
Oscar Estupinan should continue to lead the line, despite his recent struggle for goals, having hit the net eight times in England's second tier following a summer arrival from Vitoria de Guimaraes.
Millwall possible starting lineup:
Long; McNamara, Cooper, Cresswell, Malone; Mitchell, Saville; Burey, Flemming, Bennett; Bradshaw
Hull City possible starting lineup:
Baxter; Christie, Figueiredo, Greaves, Fleming; Seri, Woods, Tufan; Slater, Sinik; Estupinan
We say: Millwall 1-1 Hull City
We anticipate Rosenior's appointment being a breath of fresh air in the Hull City camp, and combining that with the quality in the Tigers' squad, they should have enough to come out of a difficult away trip with a creditable point at the weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Sam Varley
