The 1-0 Boxing Day defeat at Preston North End left Hull City back inside the bottom three and again left to reflect on a chance missed to try and put some kind of positive run together.

City probably didn't deserve to lose the game at Deepdale, but their inability to put the ball in the net at one end and keep it out at the other proved their downfall once again, as it has done so often this season. It is a big reason why they are deep in trouble at the halfway point of the campaign.

Boss Ruben Selles will now turn his attention to play-off-chasing Blackburn Rovers as City bring the curtain down on 2024 at Ewood Park. They are in desperate need of victory.

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Options are becoming increasingly limited for the head coach, with Kasey Palmer and Charlie Hughes the latest pair to be struck down by injury. Ryan Giles came off at half-time at Deepdale with a knock and Xavier Simons missed the game through illness.

It's expected that Giles and Simons will both be fine to face Rovers, but Palmer and Hughes will not be. They will join Liam Millar and Mohamed Belloumi out of action, along with Carl Rushworth and the banned Oscar Zambrano.

Having kept just one clean sheet in the opening 23 games of the season, Selles knows how important it is to stop the rot and give his side a chance of winning games, and so one change he could make it bringing in Matty Jacob and Cody Drameh to help add solidity to the flanks, which have been a constant cause of goals against this season. That was evident again on Boxing Day when Brad Potts scored the winning goal, after City were cut open.

Bringing in Jacob on the left would allow Giles to push further forward down the left, while Drameh could operate ahead of Lewie Coyle, and provide much-needed cover to the Tigers skipper, who has been going through a difficult spell in recent weeks.

Both Giles and Drameh are good going forward and would provide plenty of attacking threat, but equally importantly, provide defensive cover going the other way. Elsewhere, Selles must decide whether or not Joao Pedro can go again with a third game in the space of a week, but in truth, Chris Bedia is hardly knocking the door down to start a game, which poses Selles with a major problem.

The absence of Charlie Hughes means Sean McLoughlin will again deputise alongside Alfie Jones, but perhaps, Fin Burns may be pushing for a rare appearance. In midfield, Steven Alzate and Gustavo Puerta were two of the big positives from Deepdale and those two could be key again.

City's predicted starting XI: Pandur, Jacob, McLoughlin, Jones, Coyle, Giles, Alzate, Slater, Drameh, Puerta, Burstow.

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