Sean McLoughlin says it's crucial that Hull City bounce back after the disappointment of their 1-0 Boxing Day defeat at Preston North End when they face Blackburn Rovers on Sunday afternoon. The defender has full belief that things will turn in their favour under the guidance of new head coach Ruben Selles.

City ended their long, long wait for a victory in the final game before Christmas when they beat Swansea City last Saturday. But any hopes of building on a first success in 14 games came to a crashing end at Deepdale with a poor loss in a game they again showed why they've struggled so much this term.

The Tigers now face Rovers at Ewood Park as the curtain comes down on what has been a disappointing end to 2024, given it started with so much promise and ends with them battling to stay in the Championship rather than fighting for a place in the Premier League, as they were 12 months ago.

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"It's tough, but I mean, that's football; it's full of ups and downs, and I think we said in the changing room after the game that there's no time for us to be feeling sorry for ourselves. We've got a big game in a few days. We need to bounce back from it," the Irishman told Hull Live as he looked back on the Deepdale disappointment and 2024 as a whole.

"It's obviously difficult; we know last year we came so close," he reflected. "I mean, that's football in the Championship, especially when you see teams like that all the time. We didn't start the season well at all, but I think the new manager - we're all confident in him and going into the New Year, I think we'll be OK.

"We're not going to take anything for granted. We need to start winning now; everybody wants to win now. We're positive, we're calm, (if we can) pick up a few points over the next couple of games, put a few wins together, and we'll be fine."