Hull City

Image source, Rex Features

Hull City manager Sergej Jakirovic believes his side's home match against Watford is still a "50-50 game" despite head coach Javi Gracia's recent departure.

Gracia, who was in his second spell at Vicarage Road, left the Hornets on Sunday following their 2-0 defeat by Swansea City.

"I can say it's classic Watford," Jakirovic told BBC Radio Humberside.

"I know a lot about Watford because Slaven Bilic was the coach there, so I know a lot of things, and OK, they are now in a bad moment, but there is quality.

"I watched the Swansea game, I watched the Blackpool game. They took just one point, but easily they could've taken four in those two games, so this is a 50-50 game.

"There is a lot of quality, a lot of young players, very big potential and we will see now."

Hull currently sit third in the table, on 53 points, and are five points off the automatic promotion places.

Image source, Getty Images

Today is the final chance of the season for your Championship team to do transfer business.

The window closes at 19:00 GMT, meaning teams - and fans - can avoid the usual late-night transfer scramble.

It has already been a busy window - for some teams anyway - but whether it turns out to be a day of transfer action or a pretty quiet one for your club, you will be able to keep across it all on BBC Sport.

Follow our live text coverage throughout the day here

Hull City are aiming to keep up the pressure on their automatic promotion rivals Middlesbrough and Coventry City when they host Watford on Tuesday (19:45 GMT) at MKM Stadium.

The Tigers grinded out a 1-0 win at Blackburn Rovers on Saturday to record their fourth straight win in the Championship. They now have 53 points and are only five off second (W16 D5 L8).

Watford on the other hand are in a sticky patch of form with the Hornets winless in four league games following their 0-2 loss to Swansea at Vicarage Road on the weekend.

• Hull City have won three of their last six home league meetings with Watford (D1 L2), but have failed to do so in both of the last two campaigns (1-2 in 2023-24, 1-1 in 2024-25).

• Watford have won their last two league games against Hull City, and could complete a league double over the Tigers for the first time since the 1988-89 campaign.

• Hull City have won eight of their 14 home league games this season (D2 L4), last winning nine times at home in a campaign in 2022-23 (5 in 2024-25, 8 in 2023-24).

• Watford are unbeaten in each of their last four Championship away matches (W2 D2), their best streak on the road since going seven without loss under Valérien Ismaël between December 2023 and January 2024.

• Oli McBurnie has scored seven goals in nine league appearances for Hull City at the MKM Stadium and he is one away from his 50th home goal in the top four tiers of English football (34 in Championship, 12 in Premier League, 3 in League Two).

Bettywyn Glover
5 Live reporter

Image source, Rex Features

Hull City's 1-0 win over a struggling Blackburn side made it four victories in a row and eight wins from their last 10 Championship games. It is a run that has propelled them up to third, just five points off the top two with a game in hand.

This might come as a bit of a surprise to some, but the Tigers have been pretty consistent this season. Only Coventry and Ipswich have scored more Championship goals and they have the division's second-highest points tally on the road. They have also had impressive wins away at Middlesbrough, Southampton and Preston.

There is momentum off the pitch too. January addition Lewis Koumas wasted no time in making an impression, scoring four minutes into his debut after arriving on loan from Liverpool. He has already proved he will be a welcome addition, along with fellow new arrivals Manchester United's Tom Collier and former Middlesbrough defender Paddy McNair.

The win over Blackburn was far from pretty. Hull struggled to create chances and could not find a way through, but promotion-chasing sides find a way to win and that's exactly what Hull did.

And with a game in hand on the top two, no-one should ignore the possibility of Hull City claiming a place in the automatic spots.

Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic praised his side's resilience and defensive organisation after a hard-fought 1-0 win at Blackburn.

In a tight affair at Ewood Park, new loan signing Lewis Koumas slid in the winner in the 81st minute to leave the Tigers tghird in the table.

Saturday's victory was Hull's 16th in the league and and they are now on a five-match winning streak in all competitions.

"I think this is our biggest advantage, that we can play good on the ball even when we are bad on the ball," Jakirovic told BBC Radio Humberside.

"Like today, we were not good on the ball. But this is also a very demanding, tough pitch. It's not easy, and Blackburn are fighting for every point.

"But we now have stability and have found balance in our team tactically. We defended the box very well because Blackburn are first in the league for number of crosses inside, which was very important.

"Maybe some decisions in the last third we could have found better options. But this is how players see the situation, and I don't have a joystick there."

Hull City boss Sergej Jakirovic is hopeful of completing the loan signings of midfielders Lewis Koumas from Liverpool and Manchester United's Toby Collyer.

Koumas, 20, has been recalled from his loan with Championship rivals Birmingham City and Jakirovic thinks he could even be involved in Saturday's match at Blackburn Rovers (15:00 GMT).

"I wanted to do it (Koumas) in the summer, he was my first option but unfortunately he chose Birmingham," Jakirovic told BBC Radio Humberside.

"He has a lot of potential as a young player with a lot of experience in this league for his age - 42 games for Stoke last season and this season with Birmingham."

Collyer, 22, was restricted to just 12 appearances during a spell with West Brom this season before being recalled by Manchester United at the start of January because of a calf muscle injury and Jakirovic is ready to be patient with him.

"It's always a gamble, every player can get injured but I'm optimistic and positive and I wanted Toby in the summer but he chose West Brom as he saw City had an embargo and a salary cap so you are trying to find a calm place to play," he added.

"He's changed his mind now, seen we're playing good football and seen he can improve himself here."

Image source, Getty Images

Hull City will have to cope without Matt Crooks during February because of a hamstring injury.

Tigers head coach Sergej Jakirovic confirmed to BBC Radio Humberside he will be without the influential midfielder for the next four weeks, starting with Saturday's Championship meeting against Blackburn.

The 30-year-old, who was an unused substitute in the victory over Swansea last weekend, has been managing the issue in recent weeks.

"We are not expecting him to come back until the end of February. It's a lot of games," said Jakirovic.

"He played some games on 70 or 80 per cent and I'm grateful for that.

"He's very valuable for us and I hope that soon he will be back on the pitch.

"It is a blow but what can you do?"

Image source, Opta

Relegation-battling Blackburn will aim for their first win in eight games when they welcome promotion-chasing Hull City to Ewood Park on Saturday (kick-off 15:00 GMT).

Rovers are a point adrift of safety in 22nd and have recorded just one victory in their past 13 games (D7 L5).

By contrast, the Tigers have won three on the bounce and seven of their past nine (D1 L1) as they sit fourth - five points off the automatic promotion places.

• Each of Blackburn's past three Championship wins against Hull have come away from home - they are winless in their previous three league games against the Tigers at Ewood Park (D1 L2), losing the past two.

• Hull are one of only two visiting teams with a 100% league record at Ewood Park since the start of the 2023-24 season (minimum two visits), along with Sheffield United (two wins in two games for both).

• Of the four teams Valerien Ismael has managed in the Championship, his win percentage (27.5%) and points-per-game ratio (1.1) with current club Blackburn are both his lowest.

• Hull have been ahead on the scoreboard for 38.9% of their total match time in the Championship this season - the highest percentage of any team (marginally ahead of Coventry, 38.8%).

• Oli McBurnie has scored 11 goals in 19 league appearances for Hull this term, with his minutes per goal ratio (125) being his best in a single Championship campaign in his career.

Hull City's Turkish striker Enis Destan, 23, is close to moving on loan to Belgian Pro League side Westerlo until the end of the season. (HLN - in Dutch), external

For more transfer news and rumours, read Thursday's full gossip column here.

Hull City's English defender Charlie Hughes, 22, has caught the eye of Crystal Palace as a possible replacement for Marc Guehi after the England centre-back departed for Manchester City in January. (Football Insider), external

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Monday's gossip column here.

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Hull City boss Sergej Jakirovic has said he is "happy" to have earned all three points in a hard-fought 2-1 victory against Swansea on Saturday.

The Swans fought back in the second half to pull their 2-0 deficit to 2-1 but the Tigers held strong to deny a leveller.

"It was a very difficult game for us, especially the third game in seven days," Jakirovic told BBC Sport.

"We are very happy because I think that was a battle from the first minute and we used our chances. Swansea especially first half didn't use theirs, through [Zan] Vipotnik.

"Second half we dropped down, we didn't control anything. They deserved to score but we didn't lose our head after this goal.

"In the end we are very happy with these three points."

Image source, EFL

A new initiative highlighting the work of football club charities has been launched by the English Football League (EFL).

'Scan to Smile' will be rolled out in stadiums across the EFL from Friday until the end of January, with supporters invited to scan QR codes on posters displayed around grounds.

Each scan will unlock a short, uplifting story from a person whose life has been positively impacted by the support of their local club charity.

The subjects tackled include mental health support, combating loneliness, improving physical wellbeing, employability and confidence.

The EFL said it hoped the initiative would use "the reach and influence of football to offer fans a moment of positivity on matchday".

Trevor Birch, chief executive at the EFL, said: "Behind every club are people whose lives have been positively changed through the work and dedication of their local EFL club charity.

"This initiative gives supporters the chance to see that impact first-hand and reminds us that football truly is a force for good."

Hull City will seek a third successive league win when they welcome Swansea City to the MKM Stadium on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Victories over Southampton and fellow top six side Preston North End have left the Tigers safely within the play-off places, five points above seventh placed Watford but trailing second placed Middlesbrough by the same figure.

The Swans are also undefeated across their past two (W1 D1) and held their hosts to a 2-2 draw when the two sides met on the Welsh side of the border back in September.

• Hull City have won just one of their last seven league games against Swansea City (D3 L3), triumphing 2-1 in December 2024.

• Swansea City have lost nine of their last 14 away league games against Hull City (W2 D3), a run which has seen the Swans net multiple goals in just two of those matches.

• Hull City have won six of their last eight league games (D1 L1). Indeed, no Championship side has won more points than the Tigers since the start of this run in December (19).

• Swansea have lost six of their last seven away league games (W1). Since November 5th, no side has lost more Championship matches on the road than the Swans.

• Hull's Oliver McBurnie – who has scored in his last two league games against Swansea – has scored 10 goals in an English league season for the third time in his career, after 2018-19 (22) and 2022-23 (13).

Image source, Shutterstock

All English Football League games across a four-day period in February will begin one minute late to raise awareness for the Every Minute Matters campaign.

The initiative will be in place for 36 matches across the Championship, League One and League Two between 5 and 9 February.

EFL sponsor Sky Bet and the British Heart Foundation (BHF) have been working together since May 2024 to highlight the importance of speed when it comes to performing live-saving CPR.

Later kick-off times will serve as "a stark reminder that every minute matters", the EFL said.

Bristol Rovers defender Tom Lockyer collapsed while playing for Luton Town eight minutes into the Championship play-off final against Coventry in May 2023.

Lockyer then suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch seven months later during a Premier League game at Bournemouth.

"What happened to me can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time," said Lockyer, who is now a BHF ambassador.

"Every year, more than 40,000 people in the UK suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and most of them never make it home.

"I'm here today because of the transformative power of CPR as every minute matters when it comes to saving a life.

"This February, we want everyone to get behind this life-saving initiative, learn the skills and be ready to step in because your actions could give someone else the chance I was given."

Throughout February, the Every Minute Matters campaign will call on fans to learn CPR using the BHF's online RevivR, external tool.

"Each minute without CPR reduces a person's chance of survival, so we're urging fans to learn the skills now, before you ever need them," said Dr Charmaine Griffiths, chief executive of the BHF.

EFL chief executive officer Trevor Birch added: "The one minute kick-off adjustment is a simple, powerful reminder that swift CPR can be the difference between life and death."