Hull City: Why planning ahead is not on Ruben Selles' agenda this Christmas

The game at Deepdale is followed by a trip to Blackburn Rovers on Sunday, a New Year's Day visit from Middlesbrough, and one from Leeds United on January 4.

All Championship teams have similar schedules and most will try to use their squads to find the most energetic combinations possible but with the same players to pick from as on Saturday, Selles insists he will not be thinking ahead.

"I learnt in my previous club (crisis-torn Reading) to take one day at a time and the next game is always the most important game," insisted Selles, who has not fresh injuries or players due back.

"I will never pick a line-up thinking about what is the next game. The target is always going to be to win the next game and I will go fully to win against Preston.

"When I've finished with Preston I will see what is available, how do we cope with fatigue and what do we need for the next game? I will not speculate on that."

What should help to energise the players is that Selles' ideas have been validated with a first win under him, and a first for the club in 14 games, a run stretching back to October 1. The 2-1 win at home to Swansea City lifted them from bottom of the table to out of the relegation zone.

"The energy has been there the last couple of weeks but you can maybe feel the mood has improved a little bit," said Selles, who will give his players Christmas Day off.

"We know how much that result on Saturday means for us but we also know we have a busy period in front of us."

They also have confident strikers, Joao Pedro scoring in the last two games, and Mason Burstow netting his second since coach Tim Walter was sacked. Using Burstow wide has allowed them to play together, albeit Burstow is yet to add to his two starts under Walter.

"We need to find a balance between players that can make a difference and players who are fresh to play," argued Selles.

"Joao has started the last three games and has proven he is a good player, Chris (Bedia) has been pushing.

"Christmas is always a difficult period because playing every three days is challenging and we will need to take a decision game by game.

"There's time enough from the last game to the next to recover and be fully fresh to play. We need to revisit the situation almost every day.

"We've not come here thinking we've discovered a good position for Mason. Mason from the very first training (session) was showing his abilities and showing he has the character to play for us.

"We thought he could fit better on the side because he can see the game much better from that profile and he's a good player under pressure. He has been playing there (as a substitute) for the last couple of weeks and making a good impact on the games.

"It's purely putting him in a position to compete for the starting line-up."