This evening sees Crewe Alexandra make their second trip of the season to the KCOM Stadium to face Hull City, this time in the Paint Pot Pizza Trading Trophy or whatever the name is this week. This game will be kicking-off at the earlier time of 5.30 pm.
This season:
They sit top of League 1 after wins against Gillingham, us, Northampton Town, Plymouth Argyle, Rochdale, AFC Wimbledon, Bristol Rovers, Burton Albion, MK Dons, Ipswich Town and Doncaster Rovers, their only draw coming on Saturday at Oldham Athletic while they have lost to Fleetwood Town, Peterborough United and Swindon Town.
In the cups, they lost out on penalties to Stevenage in the 2nd Round of the FA Cup (knocking out Fleetwood in Round 1), they lost at West Ham United in Round 3 of the Carabao Cup – beating both Sunderland and Leeds United on penalties – and finished top of their EFL Trophy group following wins against Harrogate Town and Grimsby Town with a defeat against Leicester City’s Under-21s.
Transfers:
Since the last game, they have made 2 season-long loan signings as midfielder Regan Slater joined from Sheffield United and winger Hakeeb Adelakun has arrived from Bristol City. They have also allowed youngster Ryan Hanson to join Dover on loan.
Head-to-Head:
Alex Wins: 10
Hull Wins: 24
Draws: 7
Biggest Alex Win: 5-1 at Boothferry Park in December 1996 (FA Cup)
Biggest Hull Win: 7-1 at Boothferry Park in October 1994
Last Meeting:
Hull City 1-0 Crewe Alexandra, 19th September 2020
Mallik Wilks scored the only goal of the game 9 minutes before time, heading home Thomas Mayer’s cross.
Alex: Jaaskelainen; Ng, Beckles, Offord, Pickering; Murphy (Zanzala 87), Wintle, Finney (Ainley 77); Dale (Lundstram 84), Mandron, Kirk
Hull: Ingram; Emmanuel, Burke, de Wijs, Elder; Docherty, Honeyman, Smallwood; Wilks, Magennis (), Lewis-Potter
Played for Both:
The following players have been contracted to both teams:
Goalkeepers: n/a
Defenders: Neil Franklin, Stephen Kingsley, Jon Otsemobor, Shaun Smith, Matt Wicks
Midfielders: Peter Cook, Stuart Green, Jake Livermore, Nick Powell, Kevin Stewart, Simon Walton
Forwards: Dele Adebola, Clive Colbridge, Alan Daley, Clayton Donaldson, Johnny Linaker, Alan Livingstone, John Moore, Les Robson, Paul Tait, Jimmy Walsh, Jonathan Walters, Billy Whitehurst, Harry Wilson
Officials:
The officials for this game have been announced here with James Bell the referee, Barry Gordon and Daniel Woodward are his assistants with Thomas Parsons the fourth official. This is the first time that Bell has refereed the Alex as he is a first-year referee in the Football League.
Opposition View:
I asked Hull supporters Luke Flanagan for his thoughts going into the game and the season so far.
How has your season gone since our last meeting?
Our season has gone very well on the whole! We are currently top but have had a couple of disappointing results along the way. I’m happy with the way the season has gone so far, but there’s always room for improvement- particularly going forward.
There will be a few missing due to injury. Alfie Jones is definitely out, and De Wijs and Batty will probably be out too. Some players will be rested as it’s a cup game, so I would expect Wilks, Smallwood, Honeyman and Magennis to be on the bench. It’ll be a good opportunity for people like Thomas Mayer, James Scott and Tom Eaves to work their way into McCann’s plans.
What is the position you need to strengthen most in January?
We need to strengthen up front. Magennis is scoring and Eaves has started to as well, but we need a more consistent goal scorer – a Jonson Clarke-Harris type who will bag for fun. Buy someone like that and we win the league.
What would be the team that you would pick for the game if you were in charge?
I’d go: Long; Coyle, Burke. McLoughlin, Fleming; Batty, Docherty, Samuelsen; Lewis-Potter, Mayer, Eaves.
Are Wilks and Lewis-Potter still the players we are to look out for in the Hull squad or is there someone else we should look out for?
On his day – and if he plays – Martin Samuelsen is a class player. He can turn a game but also go missing. Watch out for Lewie Coyle as well. He’s been unlucky with injury but should play tomorrow.
Have you changed your mind on where you think that you will finish this season?
I’m hopeful for playoffs at least, but considering our start we should be higher than that and looking for automatic promotion. So yes, I’ve changed slightly I think! Signing extra firepower up top is crucial to that happening, though.
