Hull City v Luton Town: Tigers aiming to make Championship table better reflect mood

Saturday's result at home to Luton Town will either increase or undermine that vibe.

The cushion to the relegation zone is only three points – one win.

Lose to Luton, whose only two wins of 2025 have come in the last four games, and suddenly the Hatters are within three points as well, with Derby County able to overtake the Tigers with a fourth straight victory at home to Preston North End on Wednesday.

"Matt (Bloomfield, Luton’s manager) has been able, especially in the last period, to get a team which looks a bit more like himself and what he did at Wycombe," warns Ruben Selles. "Some of the players played in the Premier League last season and it's a very powerful team, direct, with a lot of experience."

But a win would put a bit more distance between Hull and the trapdoor for the final seven games. At the start of the month the thought of the game being in East Yorkshire was daunting, but Hull have won their last two home matches.

The Tigers began the weekend joint fifth in the Championship form table for points won over the last six games.

"There's a lot of positivity in the camp and that helps when you're in a battle," says striker Kyle Joseph, a January signing. "When you see how close it is, you wouldn't think it from the group, we've got a spring in our steps.

"That's important to have, especially in a battle like this.

"Sometimes it (a relegation battle) can get a bit daunting and affect people in differently ways but I think the way we've taken it on board and faced up to it, embraced the challenge, has really helped us.

"You can see how together we are and that's probably helped us in the last four games."

The supporters evidently see it too, with the biggest home crowd of Selles' tenure expected against the Hatters.

"The fans have connected with the way we want to do things and they're going to part of that experience,” says the coach. “The more we have in the stadium, the more noise we can make, the better it will be for us."

Selles’ attitude of not looking beyond the next game is particularly useful when this one could do so much to shape the run-in.

"I don't want to spend my time speculating about if we need three more victories (for example)," said the former Southampton and Reading coach. "The easiest way is to go out on Saturday and try and get the three points.

"Before we played the West Brom game (Hull's most recent) we'd come from the Oxford victory and I told the players I don't care about what happened three or four days ago, we are going to try and get the three points doing what we do.

"We cannot rely on not getting points today and let's see if we can get them against another opponent.

"If we focus on that and try to get the three points on Saturday maybe we will do it, maybe we will not but I think that kind of mindset will get us closer to what we really need."

A Hull squad who have Gustavo Puerta back from suspension and former Leeds United full-back Cody Drameh from injury have returned from a fortnight's international break refreshed – their coach included after a few days with his family.

"We had a double target in this period: first of all to get some fresh air and secondly to prepare the team for the Luton game," reveals Selles.

"We had that refreshment in the first part of the international break with a couple of good training sessions and some time off. This week has been a normal week.

"It's important for every human being. When you focus so much on something you end up spending energy and are tired. When you have periods like this international break you need to make sure you have a good balance between giving some time off but also keeping the team very competitive.

"In the first part of last week I put things in place here so when I arrived home I could be three or four days without thinking (about it).

"If we give four days off, before that first day I've already prepared the first day we are back but I also know when I am (at home) there will be moments where I open the computer and start to watch some games with my son. It's never a full disconnection."

From a players' perspective, it seems to have worked too – at least according to Joseph.

"Everyone came in on Monday with a little spring in their step," he says.

Kasey Palmer is fit after skipping international duty with Jamaica because of a swollen ankle.

"He has been training well this week so everything indicates he will be able to play more minutes,” says Selles. “Then it's up to me if I want to start with him or we want to keep him for the second part of the game. It's going to be part of my gameplan.”