Hull City v Doncaster Rovers: Barmby stays loyal to his squad for battle to secure promotion

In contrast to a year ago when a little under £3m was spent on Matty Fryatt, Aaron Mclean and James Chester, the Tigers have made just a trio of loan signings in January with Vito Mannone coming in from Arsenal to join Manchester United’s Josh King and Trevor Carson of Sunderland.

The lack of activity reflects manager Nick Barmby being content with the squad at his disposal as Hull look to cement their place in the play-offs.

Head of football operations Pearson said: “We are happy with what we have got so there are no plans to bring anyone in before the window closes at 11pm.

“We were all disappointed with what happened against Crawley Town in the FA Cup (when Hull lost 1-0 to the League Two outfit) but everyone is still really pleased with the squad. One defeat does not change that. No one will be leaving. We have not had any interest, other than the early enquiries about Cameron Stewart from Leicester, and that is how we want it to stay.”

Tonight’s visit of Doncaster is the first of four games for Hull in a little over a fortnight that will culminate in a Valentine’s Day trip to Birmingham City. After that, however, the Tigers will face 17 days without a fixture due to Brighton being involved in the FA Cup fifth round on February 18 and Cardiff in the Carling Cup final the following weekend.

It means Barmby’s men, who will now travel to Cardiff on Tuesday, March 13, will not then be in action until travelling to Blackpool on March 2.

Pearson added: “Having such a long gap between games is not ideal. The league is so tight that there is a danger of slipping a couple of places. Look what happened last weekend when we were in the FA Cup and Reading won to go over us in the table.

“It is why the next few games are so important. We need to collect a good number of points to keep us up there, particular with two blank weekends.”

Last six games: Hull City LLWWWL, Doncaster Rovers LLWLDL.

Last time: Hull City 3 Doncaster Rovers 1; April 16, 2011; Championship.

Referee: J Waugh (South Yorkshire).