Team news for the Premier League match between Hull City and West Bromwich Albion at the KC Stadium at 3pm on Saturday, December 6, 2014Hull City team news
Hull City boss Steve Bruce will be forced into at least one change for the visit of West Brom, following the news Mohamed Diame will be out for at least three weeks.
Diame was forced off in the 1-1 draw with Everton on Wednesday with a recurrence of a tendonitis problem in his knee. Treatment followed on Thursday with injections and the Senegal midfielder is now ruled out for Saturday's game and next weekend's trip to Chelsea.
Bruce hopes Diame can still play a part in City's Christmas schedule but his short-term absence could present Sone Aluko with his big chance.
Aluko replaced Diame at Goodison Park and scored his first Premier League goal in 14 months. A reward is likely to come with a start alongside Nikica Jelavic.
Bruce is able to call upon the services of record signing Abel Hernandez after missing the striker for the last two games on paternity leave, but Gaston Ramirez is again absent serving the final fixture of a three-game ban.
Veteran goalkeeper Steve Harper, absent for the trips to Manchester United and Everton, is again struggling to be fit (bicep), leaving Eldin Jakupovic as the goalkeeping understudy.Possible Hull City line-up: McGregor, Elmohamady, Dawson, Chester, Rosenior, Meyler, Huddlestone, Livermore, Quinn, Aluko, Jelavic. Subs: Jakupovic (GK), Davies, Bruce, Brady, Robertson, Hernandez, Sagbo.West Brom team news
Under-fire West Brom boss Alan Irvine will be without captain Chris Brunt for the clash with Hull City after limping out of the midweek loss to West Ham with a hamstring injury.
Brunt could shake off the problem in time for next weekend but the trip to the KC Stadium has come too soon.
Defender Jonas Olsson (Achilles) is another player definitely absent, but Irvine is able to recall midfielder James Morrison and left-back Sebastien Pocognoli.
Morrison is not guaranteed a start in a likely 4-2-3-1 shape for the Baggies following a bout of sickness, but Pocognoli is expected to come straight back in after recovering from a dead leg.
Claudio Yacob serves the final game of a three-match suspension for his red card collected in the defeat to Chelsea last month.
Irvine has selection dilemmas as he bids to avoid a fifth consecutive defeat.
Rookie defender Craig Dawson has suffered a drop in form of late and the experienced Gareth McAuley will be in Irvine's mind to play alongside one-time City transfer target Joleon Lescott.Possible West Brom: Foster, Pocognoli, Lescott, Dawson, Wisdom, Gardner, Mulumbu, Berahino, Sessegnon, Dorrans, Anichebe. Subs: Myhill (GK), McAuley, Baird, Varela, Brown, Samaras, Gamboa.Players to watch
Hull City and West Brom have struggled for goals in recent weeks and they will both look towards their mercurial forwards to deliver the goods in what is expected to be an anxious and tight encounter.Sone Aluko made a huge difference for the Tigers in their 1-1 draw at Everton on Wednesday night, emerging off the bench to dispatch a super finish that rescued a point for his side.
That is likely to earn him a rare start at the KC Stadium playing off Nikica Jelavic and he will be asked to drag West Brom's defenders out of their comfort zones and into trouble.
The same will go for Stephane Sessegnon, who Steve Bruce managed at Sunderland. The diminutive forward will support Victor Anichebe and buzz around in the spaces between City's defence and midfield.Form guide
Dismal is putting it mildly when it comes to West Brom's recent run.
The Baggies have lost their last four on the bounce and have won just one of their last eight in all competitions.
A 1-0 win at Leicester at the beginning of November is all that keeps Alan Irvine's side out of the relegation zone after defeats to Newcastle, Chelsea, Arsenal and West Ham – a list of fixtures that saw them unbeaten and eight points better off in last season's games.
