Hull City v Rochdale – Tigers urged to ignore rivals’ form in promotion run-in

The Tigers entertain Rochdale this evening knowing that they will move into second place if they can better the result of Lincoln City, and could even end the night just two points off the summit.

But, both the Imps and leaders Peterborough United, plus the two sides directly below them in the table, all boast two games in hand on Grant McCann’s men.

And although that leaves City at a significant disadvantage heading into the business end of 2020-21, ex-West Ham defender Burke doesn’t believe that there is anything to be gained from worrying about factors which are beyond their control.

“If I am being honest, I don’t look at the table, I just like to focus game by game,” he said.

“I know some players may be different but I just think we need to focus game by game and on trying to get the job done.

“Whether they (other teams) have games in hand or have won, lost or drawn, we have just got to focus on ourselves.

“That’s where sometimes maybe you can go wrong, by focusing on other people and not on yourselves. It is important that we just focus on ourselves.

“There’s only one aim for us and that is promotion and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to (achieve that). Game by game we’ve just got to keep pushing on.”

If the Tigers are to push on, they are going to need to use Saturday’s 3-0 success at AFC Wimbledon as the catalyst for a much-improved run of form.

They have won just one of their last seven and are without a victory – or even a goal – in three home outings.

“Hopefully, we can start to get a little run going at home, starting on Tuesday,” added Burke.

“It’s a good opportunity after winning on Saturday. Hopefully we can get a result and we can push on, because that’s what we want to do.

“It’s not so much that we’ve been having bad performances.In some games we could have been more ruthless in front of goal. We create chances. I think sometimes some of the goals we concede, we switch off and you can’t afford to do that.”

Last six games: Hull City WLDWLD; Rochdale LDDLLL

Referee: J Bell (Sheffield).

Last time: Rochdale 0 Hull City 3. October 17, 2020. League One.

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