Hull City go to Leicester City on Tuesday night knowing nothing less than three points will do if they are to protect their play-off place. Their cushion has already been cut to two points by Derby County and Wrexham, with only three games left, and a four-match run without a win has turned a promising position into a nervous one.
Saturday's 1-1 draw with Birmingham City at least brought a point and a welcome return for Ryan Giles, who had missed 10 games before coming off for the final 20 minutes. Giles was part of the early-season surge that brought him eight assists, and Hull badly need that kind of delivery again now that the season is tightening up. John Lundstram was absent because of a one-match suspension, while Regan Slater may be available again after an ankle injury, though he is not expected to start at Leicester.
Joe Gelhardt scored Hull's goal against Birmingham but struggled to get on the ball often enough from the central role behind Oli McBurnie, which has reopened the argument for using him wider. Hull may also turn back to a shape they used earlier in the season, with Kyle Joseph and Gelhardt operating on the flanks and McBurnie through the middle. Joseph could come back into the side as well, with his pressing missed in recent weeks, and Hull's predicted line-up points to that kind of reshuffle, with Pandur, Giles, Egan, Ajayi, Coyle, Amir, Lundstram, Joseph, Crooks, Gelhardt and McBurnie all in the frame.
The tension for Hull is that their play-off place has looked increasingly flimsy for weeks, even before the gap narrowed to two points. Jakirovic has been cautious with players returning from injury, but Giles and Mo Belloumi have both still suffered serious setbacks, and Belloumi has only recently been back in action, where he has already shown enough to matter. Against Leicester, Hull need the points more than the fine points of selection, because the table is giving them less room by the day.
