Preview: Sunderland vs. Hull City

Hull City will be hoping for a win to move them out of the relegation zone when they travel to the Stadium of Light to face Sunderland on Boxing Day.

Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Swansea City marked the Tigers' 10th straight league match without a win, a run stretching back to the start of October.

Steve Bruce's side sit 19th in the league table heading into the festive fixtures, but are just two points from safety, although another loss could see them slip to the bottom.

The manager has a number of players missing as Tom Huddlestone remains suspended after picking up a red card earlier this month, while a fifth booking of the season last week rules Jake Livermore out.

Michael Dawson, Mohamed Diame and Robert Snodgrass are still out injured, while Paul McShane has been banished to training with the Under-21s until he apologises to Bruce.

However, Thomas Ince and Maynor Figueroa could both feature after being recalled from loan spells in the Championship to boost the dwindling numbers for Hull.

Meanwhile, Sunderland will head into the match full of confidence after beating local rivals Newcastle United in the Tyne-Wear derby at the weekend.

Adam Johnson's late goal against the Magpies has lifted Sunderland up to 14th in the table, four points clear of the relegation zone.

That win ended a run of six games without a victory for the Black Cats, although they had lost just once in that time, drawing the remaining five matches.

Striker Connor Wickham will be missing for the match as he is suspended after receiving his fifth yellow card of the season against Newcastle.

Anthony Reveillere is likely to miss out after limping out of the warm-up ahead of the weekend's derby, while Patrick van Aanholt is still a couple of weeks away from his return, and Billy Jones is still recovering from a hamstring injury.

Gus Poyet has revealed that Argentine international Ricky Alvarez may come in to the side in place of Wickham for the match.

Hull beat Sunderland twice in the league and knocked them out of the FA Cup last season.

Sunderland:

Form in Premier League: DDLDDW Form in all competitions: DDLDDW

Possible starting lineup: Pantilimon, Vergini, Coates, Brown, O'Shea, Cattermole, Johnson, Larsson, Gomez, Alvarez, Fletcher

Hull City:

Form in Premier League: LLDDLL Form in all competitions: LLDDLL

Possible starting lineup: McGregor, Elmohamady, Chester, Davies, Bruce, Robertson, Meyler, Ince, Ramirez, Hernandez, Sagbo

Sports Mole says: 1-0