Hull City

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Alan Browne, Charlie Hughes, Sam Smith and Caleb Taylor are the nominees for January's Championship player of the month award.

Browne has come back into favour under Kim Hellberg at Middlesbrough and has been deployed at right wing-back as well as in central midfield.

The 30-year-old Republic of Ireland international helped Boro to five wins in January, scoring in the 4-0 home wins over Southampton and Preston and scoring one and assisting the other in a 2-1 win at Stoke.

Hughes was part of a Hull City side that enjoyed a fine month, with four wins in five matches and just three goals conceded.

The 22-year-old centre-back also headed what turned out to be the winner in a 2-1 victory at Southampton, his first goal of the campaign.

Smith took his chance at Wrexham, replacing the injured Kieffer Moore, with the 27-year-old forward scoring in all four of his starts in January to help the Red Dragons to 13 points from six games to move into the play-off places.

Taylor impressed at the back for Millwall, who claimed 11 points from their six games with Taylor helping ensure three clean sheets and also weighing-in with goals in wins against Swansea and Charlton and two assists too.

The winner will be announced on Friday, 13 February.

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Returning to the club where his grandmother was a season holder will be an "amazing thing for me and my family", says Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior.

The Blues visit Championship Hull City in the FA Cup fourth round on Friday evening, providing Rosenior an emotional opportunity to return to the club he watched as a child, played for, and later managed.

"Incredible," he told BBC Sport.

"I've got an emotional family connection with the club through my grandma. I used to go up there when I was a little boy. I'm talking four or five years old on summer holidays all the way through. Without that football club, I wouldn't be here now.

"She was a season ticket holder. She got to see me play there. Sadly she passed away pretty much a year to the day before I joined Hull as manager."

"I think she did the draw," Rosenior added with a smile.

"She must have messed around with the balls in the hat. Amazing for my family to get together. I think I need about 20 tickets so we'll see how it goes.

"Without that club and without being there, I wouldn't be in this situation now. I'm so thankful. It's a club that I will always love, and have a special place in in my heart for.

"And it's an amazing thing for me and my family that we go back there."

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Rosenior has started well as Blues manager, winning seven out of his first 10 matches in charge and remaining unbeaten in the Premier League. He believes supporters are beginning to see how his approach differs from previous boss Enzo Maresca.

"What I'm conscious of as well is that they're already part of a very good team," he added.

"My ideas are similar with tweaks and different things, but what you don't want to do is change too much too soon because the players lose their rhythm.

"I think people are starting to see a few things that are different. It's not about being different. It's about winning games of football. And that's the balance that I have to find."

Nizaar Kinsella
Chelsea reporter

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Former Hull City vice-chairman Tan Kesler has revealed how "really ambitious" Liam Rosenior became a success in management.

The 41-year-old is now in charge of Chelsea and will lead his side into an FA Cup fourth‑round tie at his former club, where he made 161 appearances as a player between 2010 and 2015.

Having previously served only as caretaker manager at Derby County in League One, Rosenior was appointed by Hull as a relatively inexperienced head coach in 2022.

Kesler told BBC Sport what he said to owner Acun Ilicali during the hiring process:

"I remember telling Acun: we're speaking to top international coaches, but this young coach has something special," he said.

"Acun comes from the entertainment world - he owns rights to reality shows like The Voice and Survivor. I told him Liam could be someone we bring into the limelight by giving him an opportunity.

"Liam spoke very well and we hoped he could apply his ideas.

"Finally, I asked him in our first meeting over coffee where he saw himself in five years.

"Knowing Championship coaches have short lifespans, I wanted to see if he was pragmatic or really ambitious. He said: 'I see myself coaching in the Champions League'."

"We took a risk - a calculated risk, not a crazy one."

Now working in the same role at Polish top‑flight side Pogon Szczecin, Kesler explained that Rosenior went to extra lengths to persuade players to join Hull.

He recalled driving with club recruiters from Yorkshire to London to convince Fabio Carvalho to sign on loan, and said not every attempt was successful, pointing to a similar trip to Burnley which ended without a deal.

"Liam focuses on communication and delivers what he needs to say in a very short period," Kesler added. "That's key for young players with short attention spans."

Rosenior was ultimately sacked after 18 months and 78 matches in charge, having missed out on the 2023-24 Championship play-offs by three points, because of what Ilicali said was a "difference of opinions".

Kesler "believes everything happens for a reason", with his own exit following six months later because he felt he needed a break after the birth of his son.

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Hull City manager Sergej Jakirovic says "crucial mistakes" were to blame as his side lost 3-2 at home to Bristol City.

The defeat saw the tigers drop a place to fourth in the Championship table, four points off the automatic promotion places.

"We made a lot of crucial mistakes in today's game," he told BBC Radio Humberside:

"We started well I think, we controlled their everything, but after a while we started to lose easy duels or easy balls, we were very soft in those duels and they had a good two chances when it was 0-0.

"We took the lead with with a nice action, great finishing from Oli and then I think that we brought them into the game with our two mistakes.

"Two cheap goals because we are there with the numbers, we can control those players there, but when you make those mistakes it's mostly a goal, they punish you immediately."

Hull City goalkeeper Ivor Pandur feels he "belongs" at Hull City and is not interested in leaving the Championship promotion challengers.

He was linked with a move away from MKM Stadium last summer and has been telling BBC Radio Humberside he did not want that sort of speculation in the January transfer window.

"I spoke to my agent and said he doesn't need to talk to me about football as I want to stay, be here for the team and see how far we can go," Pandur said.

"I know they need me. I feel good here so in the winter and even in the summer I didn't want to leave."

The 25-year-old joined Hull from Fortuna Sittard in January 2024 and will bring up 75 appearances for the club when they host Bristol City on Saturday (15:01 GMT).

"Then [in the summer] there was too much talk and my decision wasn't less clear than it is now, so I just talked straight and focused on football," he added.

"I know I am here, I don't want to go - you are not forced to go, this is where I belong. I feel it inside so I listened to my gut and that's where I want to be so it's easy."

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Hull City's five-match unbeaten Championship run has taken them up to third place in the table, four points outside the automatic promotion places.

The Tigers will be without forward Yu Hirakawa for the visit of Bristol City as he will not be allowed to play against his parent club who themselves are four points short of the play-off places.

• Hull City have won just one of their past 15 league games against Bristol City (D6 L8), a 2-1 home win in July 2022.

• Following their 4-2 win in August, Bristol City are looking to do the league double over Hull for just the second time in the 21st century, the first coming in the 2019-20 campaign.

• Hull City have lost just one of their past 11 league games (W8 D2), with the Tigers' eight wins the most of any Championship side since the start of this run in December.

• No side have kept more clean sheets in the Championship than Bristol City this season (11). However, at the other end the Robins have failed to score in four of their past five games.

• No player has been involved in more Championship goals this season than Hull's Oliver McBurnie (16 – 11 goals, 5 assists). It is also his second best return in an English league campaign, after 2018-19 (22 goals, 4 assists).

Hull manager Sergej Jakirovic says his players "gave their all" in a 0-0 draw with Watford that ended a four-game winning run.

He told BBC Radio Humberside: "I think that we must be very, very satisfied with this point. It was a very difficult game for us. Watford were better on the ball.

"Without the ball they were very powerful. We struggled there. We tried to be compact.

"I am maybe more satisfied with the second half, but struggled with decisions (of players) in open play and on the counter-attack. Some decisions I cannot understand.

"I congratulate my boys because they gave their all. It's not easy, but sometimes we were not calm around the box, and we need more confidence."

Mike White
Sports editor, BBC Radio Humberside

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City did not need eleventh-hour drama or wheeling and dealing having completed their incoming business in advance of the weekend. And impressive business it appears to be with five new faces – three on-loan and two permanent.

Despite being under the constraints of the second of their two-window EFL transfer restriction sanctions, City were still able to bring in a mix of experience and younger, promising talent using free transfers and loan additions with what owner Acun Ilicali described as "doing our magic".

In Paddy McNair and Kieran Dowell, they have players who have experience at Premier League and Championship level, having both started out at top-flight clubs.

Yu Hirakawa was deemed surplus to requirements - and maybe not utilised in the right way - at Bristol City, but in his initial substitute appearances for the Tigers, the Japanese winger has already got fans clamouring to see what more he can offer when his first start comes along.

Lewis Koumas did not have the best of times whilst on-loan at Birmingham City this season but he made an immediate impact for Sergej Jakirovic's side at the weekend. His took his late winning goal at Blackburn Rovers well after only being on the field for about four minutes. It feels like the Liverpool attacker arrives in East Yorkshire with a bit of a point to prove.

And rounding off the new signings is Manchester United midfielder Toby Collyer, who, like Koumas, had the chance to join City in the summer but opted for a temporary switch to West Bromwich Albion, which at the time felt understandably like a more lucrative option.

He is just recovered from a calf injury and has not played since November so I would imagine the club will be patient with him given they are a club who have incurred the wrath of the injury gods more than many other teams this season already.

The club also managed to move a couple of players on to free up the finances needed to make these deals happen and keep within PSR limits. Kasey Palmer went to Luton Town on loan, Brandon Williams had his contract paid up, and Tyrell Sellars-Fleming was loaned to nearby Grimsby Town.

Amid all of that, keeping the likes of highly rated defender Charlie Hughes and experienced centre-half John Egan, amid interest in both players during this window, might be the best bits of (non) business they were able to do for a team with genuine promotion aspirations.

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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.

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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

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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."