Hull City

Middlesbrough are planning to test the resolve of Championship promotion rivals Hull City with a move for star defender Charlie Hughes, who could cost £10m. (Football League World, external)

Boro are also keen on signing Ecuador international winger Jeremy Sarmiento on loan from Brighton, if the Seagulls cut short the 23-year-old's unsuccessful loan at Serie A Cremonese. Sarmiento has been promoted from the Championship during loans with Ipswich and Burnley in the past two seasons. (Teesside Live, external)

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

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Hull City defender Semi Ajayi played the full 90 minutes as Nigeria reached the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).

The 32-year-old was part of the Super Eagles side as they beat Mozambique 4-0 in Fes on Monday night to reach the last eight.

Ajayi has featured in three of the four matches Nigeria have played at the tournament in Morocco.

They will face either Algeria or DR Congo in Saturday's quarter-final tie in Marrakech (16:00 GMT).

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Hull City left-back Matty Jacob has returned from his loan spell with Reading to continue his treatment for a long-term knee injury.

The 24-year-old was initially signed on a season-long loan in the summer but picked up the problem during a FA Cup match against Carlisle United in November to cut his time at the Select Car Leasing Stadium short.

Jacob made 16 appearances across all competitions for the Royals, playing all 90 minutes in 10 League One games.

The Tigers are currently without favoured left wing-back Ryan Giles, who has suffered a hamstring injury that ruled him out of the 1-0 loss to Stoke City on New Year's Day.

Hull City manager Sergej Jakirovic has said he is "not disappointed" by his side's performance in the 0-1 home loss to Stoke City on Thursday.

Robert Bozenik's first half tap in was enough for the Potters to see out the win at the MKM Stadium with Hull missing the chance to go third in the table following Middlesbrough's loss to Derby County.

"It's a normal Championship game, especially at this moment where every game is coming too fast.

"You just have recovery and mental preparation. I think in these days, in this moment, whoever has more energy, more will, more desire, then you can expect something.

"I expected this type of game because, from what I saw, there were a lot of aerial challenges and long balls. I was not satisfied in the first half especially, because we didn't play; we just kicked the ball forward, which was very easy to defend.

"I'm not disappointed at all because I know the lads gave everything on the pitch. In our circumstances, we are losing every game one or two players."

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Championship promotion-chasing Hull City will look to continue their impressive run of form when they welcome a faltering Stoke City on New Year's Day (15:00 GMT kick-off).

The Tigers are fourth and only two points off the automatic promotion places after a five-game unbeaten run (W4 D1), including an impressive 1-0 win at Middlesbrough last time out.

The Potters have slipped to 10th, four points adrift of the top six, after just two wins from their past 10 games (D1 L7).

• Hull City have lost this exact fixture in each of the past four campaigns, failing to score in three of those defeats. The Tigers lost 2-1 at home to the Potters last season.

• Stoke City have only won more away games in the EFL against West Bromwich Albion (26) than Hull City (14 – level with Wolves).

• Hull's first league game of the year hasn't ended in a draw in any of the past 12 years (W6 L6), since a goalless draw with Blackpool on New Year's Day 2013.

• Stoke's games on New Year's Day in both 2024 (v Ipswich) and 2025 (v Burnley) ended goalless = only three teams have ever had three consecutive games on 1 January end 0-0 in the EFL: Hull City (1972-1977), Stoke City (1972-1977) and Hereford United (1994-2008).

• Against no side has Hull City's Matt Crooks scored more goals against in the EFL than Stoke City (5 - level with Bristol City).

Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic felt his team came close to defensive perfection as they won 1-0 at second-placed Middlesbrough.

The Tigers head coach, who also gave an injury update on Mohamed Belloumi, told BBC Radio Humberside:"We were almost perfect in the defensive phase because we knew Middlesbrough would have the ball and are really dangerous.

"They have the biggest possession [percentage] in this league, and that's the reason we changed our system today so we had control in the middle zone to try to direct them on the sides and then when they had a cross in our box we had control there.

"We were very good in this and when we used our chance through Darko [Gyabi]. At the end of the game I didn't feel we were struggling. They try to put you under pressure with crosses or shooting, but if we didn't stop it with the [outfield] players then Ivor [Pandur] made two saves.

"I cannot be unhappy today because we got three points in a very difficult place."

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Hull City manager Sergej Jakirovic criticised his players' performance as they missed the chance to go third in the Championship after a 2-2 draw at Sheffield Wednesday.

Goals from Mohamed Belloumi and Matt Crooks brought Hull level twice but they failed to find a winner, ending a three-match winning run.

"We played like it was Christmas today, not yesterday," Jokirovic told BBC Radio Humberside.

"We were very very poor in the first half, no control and very low energy. We made bad decisions in possession, but started to play after we conceded."

Jokirovic said his team did improve and was unhappy with the referee, who he claims failed to rule out Wednesday's second for offside.

"In the second half, we controlled much more and we had good possession. We created more.

"Their second goal was clearly offside; the referee was poor but my team was also poor. I cannot complain so much.

"I'm very disappointed. We can't change anything; we did everything in preparation. Psychologically, I knew it would be difficult because everyone was counting on three points."

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Sheffield Wednesday will aim to finish a difficult year at Hillsborough on a high as they entertain in-form Hull City on Friday (15:00 GMT).

The Owls' only win came on the road in September and they have not kept a clean sheet at home since December 2024.

They have picked up just two points from 11 games at Hillsborough this season to remain rock-bottom on -9 points, effectively 31 short of safety with 25 games remaining, such is their inferior goal difference.

The Tigers have won their past three games to climb to fourth, five points adrift of the automatic promotion places and with a three point lead over the play-off chasing pack.

• Sheffield Wednesday have won two of their past three league games against Hull (L1), as many as they had in their previous 12 (D4 L6).

• Hull won this exact fixture 1-0 last season but have never won consecutive away league games against Sheffield Wednesday before.

• Having won five consecutive Boxing Day league games between 2014 and 2018, Sheffield Wednesday have won just one of their past five (D2 L2). This is their first such game at home since a 3-0 win against Birmingham in 2015.

• Hull have won just one of their past seven Boxing Day league games (D2 L4), beating Preston 2-1 at Deepdale in 2018.

• Sheffield Wednesday haven't kept a single home league clean sheet in 2025 and have shipped 40 goals at Hillsborough this calendar year – only in 1957 have they conceded more in a year (42).

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Hull head coach Sergej Jakirovic said described his side's 1-0 win over West Bromwich Albion as a "three big points".

The Tigers stayed firmly in touch with the play-off contenders with their third victory in a row to move up to fourth in the Championship, level on points with Ipswich Town and five adrift of Middlesbrough in the second automatic promotion spot.

"It was typical [of the Championship] because there were a thousand balls in the air and two thousand challenges. We struggled for the second ball, in the first half especially, he told BBC Radio Humberside.

"We started well but lost our balance and West Brom were better - they had two great situations to score a goal and then gave us a penalty.

"We controlled the second half much better and had a few good chances, but kept a clean sheet which is very important and got three big points. The red card also helped a lot, for sure.

Jakirovic also have his view on the sending off of Baggies' defender Alfie Gilchrist who was shown a red card after challenging Liam Millar with 15 minutes left.

"It was very harsh. I was a little bit surprised, because I was thinking it was a yellow card, but he pulled out a red."

West Bromwich Albion head coach Ryan Mason says he returns to Hull City on Saturday with "mixed emotions" as he reflects on the moment that ended his playing career nearly 10 years ago.

Mason suffered a fractured skull in a clash of heads with Chelsea's Gary Cahill during a Premier League match in January 2017 and, after major surgery, was forced to retired just over a year later at the age of only 25.

Now he is going back to the place where it happened in charge of a side for the first time and told BBC Radio WM it would be an emotional experience.

"There were some fond memories there even though it didn't end how I wanted it to, so I look back on it with mixed emotions," he said.

"The club were amazing. The doctor Mark Waller, he had a crucial part in saving my life. I still speak to him.

"The owners at the time were incredible. They gave me the time and opportunity to come back and play."

Despite a lot changing at Hull in the nine years since his injury, Mason said there would always be a bond with the club.

"It's been a long time - I retired at 25 - it's coming up to 10 years, they have a different owner, different manager and players," he added.

"I had an incident when I was representing that club so there will always be a connection with Hull.

"It's a painful period to look back on. I lost my career but my son was born in Hull on 20 December.

"It's made me a better person and made people around me better as well."

For the immediate future, Mason is now fully focused on putting any sentiment aside as he tries to engineer a first away win in the Championship since the start of October and prevent the current five-point gap to the play-off places getting any wider.

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Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic says that striker Oli McBurnie is ready to join the starting XI, but his selection will depend on tactics.

The former Scotland international started nine of the Tigers' opening 10 Championship games before missing the next eight with a calf injury and has been slowly making his comeback from the bench in the past two games.

However, fellow forward Kyle Joseph has found his form, scoring three goals across those matches to give Jakirovic a selection headache up front.

"He's [McBurnie] in good shape and everything is good," Jakirovic told BBC Radio Humberside.

"It's tactical issues so we will see, we will play with him or with Kyle."

McBurnie and Joseph have previously started games together and the Bosnian says that the return of forward Enis Destan may increase the chances of seeing the duo both in the starting line-up.

Destan is expected to make the squad for Saturday's game with West Brom (15:00 GMT) after his return to training following a two-game absence with a leg injury.

"It's a possibility," Jakirovic added.

"They can play together, especially now that we have Enis now, so we will see."

Meanwhile, the head coach "will see" whether midfielder Kasey Palmer is ready to return after missing two months with a knee problem.

Listen to the full interview with Jakirovic and more Hull City content on BBC Sounds.