Hull City v Burnley: Mannone injury may force Hull loan move

Both sides went into the April 10 contest last year in shocking form with City having lost six out of seven and the Clarets having taken one point from a possible 27.

In the end, Burnley ran out convincing winners to briefly raise hopes of a reprieve. Three subsequent back-to-back defeats soon put an end to those hopes, while Hull never recovered from the 4-1 loss and were relegated in 19th place.

Ten months on, the two go head-to-head again with the stakes high due to both Hull and Burnley leading the chasing pack in the race for the play-offs.

Standing five and four points adrift of Leeds in sixth place, both clubs know victory tonight would give a major lift to any hopes of breaking into the top six.

For the Tigers, Vito Mannone is a major doubt with a thigh injury so manager Nigel Pearson may be forced into the loan market.

City’s on-loan goalkeeper was troubled by the injury in Saturday’s win at Nottingham Forest and would be a big loss, especially as Matt Duke’s loan move to Derby County leaves City short of options.

Rookie Mark Oxley was on the bench at Forest so, if Mannone is not fit, Pearson may be tempted to move for Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan.

Burnley midfielder Jack Cork, on loan from Chelsea, says: “We’ve shown that we can do it and we’ve shown that we’ve got an ugly side as well to grind out results, like Preston last week and in the second half on Saturday. We are not looking further than the next game. We just want to keep the momentum going.”

Last six games: Hull City WWDWLW, Burnley WWDLWW.

Referee: D Deadman (Cambridgeshire).

Last time: Hull City 1 Burnley 4; April 10, 2010; Premier League.