Preview: Wrexham vs Hull City - prediction, team news, lineups

Two teams sitting in the Championship playoffs will face off when Wrexham welcome Hull City to the Racecourse Ground on Tuesday.

The Tigers are sitting in fifth spot in the Championship table, while the hosts are three points adrift in sixth place with the advantage of a game in hand. 

Match preview

Wrexham will have to recover quickly after playing over 120 minutes in Saturday's eventful cup battle against Club World Cup champions Chelsea.

The Red Dragons went ahead and were pegged back on two occasions in Saturday's enthralling fifth-round clash at the Racecourse Ground, but their hopes of progression were dealt a major blow when George Dobson's yellow card was upgraded to a red following a reckless challenge on Alejandro Garnacho in stoppage time.

Garnacho and Joao Pedro went on to score in extra time to seal a 4-2 win for the Premier League side and prevent Wrexham from reaching the quarter-finals for the first time since the 1996-97 season.

While they would have been disappointed to miss out on a famous upset, Wrexham can at least turn their full focus to their bid to achieve a fourth consecutive promotion, with Phil Parkinson's side sitting just inside the playoffs after collecting 57 points from 35 matches.

They have recorded victories in each of their previous three Championship matches, including a 1-0 success against Charlton Athletic at The Valley in their most recent league outing. 

The Red Dragons have not beaten Hull at the Racecourse Ground in the league since April 1996, although they have already enjoyed home success against the Tigers this season, prevailing on penalties after playing out a thrilling 3-3 draw in August's EFL Cup tie.

© Imago / Focus Images

Hull may boast a three-point advantage over Wrexham, but they will travel to north Wales on the back of consecutive defeats. 

The Tigers fell to a narrow defeat against promotion-chasing Ipswich Town at Portman Road, before they lost to another top-two hopeful in Saturday's home clash against Millwall. 

After going into the break with a 1-1 scoreline, Hull conceded two second-half goals as they fell to a 3-1 defeat at the MKM Stadium, denting their fading hopes of automatic promotion. 

The Tigers, who are now nine points adrift of the top two, will be desperate to return to winning ways against a Wrexham side they beat 2-0 in December's reverse fixture. 

Sergej Jakirovic's side have made a habit of winning on the road this season, as demonstrated by a return of seven victories from their last nine Championship road trips, including three wins without conceding in their previous four away encounters. 

They have also scored in 15 of their last 16 road trips, although their only failure in that period took place in their most recent away game against Ipswich. 

Wrexham Championship form:

Wrexham form (all competitions):

Hull City Championship form:

Team News

© Imago / IMAGO / APL

Wrexham remain without the services of Ben Sheaf, Matty James and Liberato Cacace due to injury. 

Dobson is suspended for the midweek fixture following his dismissal in the closing stages of regulation time against Chelsea. 

Manchester City loanee Issa Kabore faces a battle to prove his fitness after sitting out the cup defeat with a hamstring issue. 

As for the visitors, their injury list is made up of Akin Famewo, Ryan Giles, Darko Gyabi, Yu Hirakawa, Matty Jacob and Mo Belloumi. 

Matt Crooks will serve the second game of a two-match ban for accumulating 10 yellow cards throughout the Championship season.

John Egan, Amir Hadziahmetovic and Lewis Koumas are all in contention to start at the Racecourse Ground. 

Wrexham possible starting lineup:

Okonkwo; Cleworth, Hyam, Doyle; Longman, Vyner, O'Brien, Thomason; Rathbone, Broadhead; Moore

Hull City possible starting lineup:

Pandur; Drameh, Hughes, Egan, Coyle; Hadziahmetovic, Slater; Joseph, Gelhardt, Koumas; McBurnie

We say: Wrexham 2-2 Hull City

Hull may have lost their most recent away game, but they are usually a tough team to beat on the road.

With that in mind, we think Wrexham will miss out on a fourth consecutive home win and will have to be content with a share of the spoils. 

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