Preview: Hull City vs. Derby County

Hull City are the latest midweek opponents for The Rams as they look to lift the gloom descending over the club after a few disappointing results. The football has been excellent but the points haven´t come, and after a poor showing against Sheffield United, a good performance and points are needed.

Nigel Clough wants his side to forget the Sheffield United game and move on and get a result at the KC: 'I don't think it will be a problem lifting the players,' said the manager.

'They know they had a bad day on Saturday. Almost to a man, they had a bad day and we move on.

'The worse feeling as a footballer is when you come in after a game and think 'I should have done more today, I should have played better'.

'You live with that to the next game and even beyond that.

'If they (the players) are the characters we know they are, they will bounce back.'

Hull boss Nigel Pearson wants to make home advantage count after a series of poor results away from home: 'When you're losing games away from home like we are, it always puts on added pressure,' he said.

'Our points return so far is poor. We've got bottom of the league form at the moment. That's the reality of it and all the points we've got have come at home.

'With home games coming up now, again that puts added pressure on us. But we've got to be able to deal with that.'

Jimmy Bullard may feature for Hull for the first time this season. Nicky Barmby is fit despite receiving stitches to a cut above his eye, so he may feature for his home-town club. Caleb Folan and James Harper are both absentees.

Dangerous midfielder Bullard could make the Hull side after they failed to get him off the wage-bill in the transfer window.

Shefki Kuqi is expected to start for The Rams having signed on-loan from Swansea, as is Alberto Bueno (who featured as a substitute against Sheffield United).

The big striker from Finland will give Derby some strength up front after they looked weak against Sheffield United.

Last Matches:

Derby County:

Crewe Alexandra (a) 0-1

Cardiff City (h) 1-2

Coventry City (a) 1-2

Queens Park Rangers (h) 2-2

Sheffield United (h) 0-1

Hull City:

Millwall (a) 0-4

Watford (h) 0-0

Brentford (a) 1-2

Doncaster Rovers (a) 1-3

Cardiff City (a) 0-2

Barnsley vs. Derby County, Sat 18th September, 15:00pm, The Championship

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