Hull City: Grant McCann braced for physical threat from Yorkshire rivals

It serves as a salutary warning ahead of the arrival of another White Rose side to the MKM Stadium in Middlesbrough, who the Tigers chief expects to provide a physical examination with Neil Warnock’s team coming into the game on the back of a powerhouse midweek win over United.

McCann, whose side’s last home success at this level was against Boro in July, 2020, said: “They have been up and down a little bit, but they have shown their credentials and are an experienced team with experienced lads who have played in this division for many years.

“Neil’s sides are always high energy and aggressive and tend to be quite big and good at set-plays, so we know what we are going to come up against. But it is about what we do.”

Strong bench cameos from goalscorer Tom Eaves and Tyler Smith provided the main substantive in Tuesday’s draw with Blackpool, with both in McCann’s thinking to start tomorrow.

McCann, who said that George Honeyman, Tom Huddlestone and Josh Magennis are set to return for the trip to Huddersfield on October 16, said: “I have been really pleased with Tom (Eaves) over the past three or four weeks. He’s got his head down and worked very hard. You can also see that hunger and desire again.

“We had an honest conversation in my office regarding the amount of forwards we have got and there was a lot of speculation about whether he was going to leave. Tom wanted to stay and fight for his place and we were happy with that.

“Tyler also made an impact (on Tuesday). He is a natural goalscorer and we think highly of him. It is good to have these options from the bench or whether they start.”