Hull City v Burnley: Bruce wary of poor head to head record

Hull City take on fellow Premier League strugglers Burnley on Saturday and manager Steve Bruce is hoping to address their poor head-to-head record against the Lancashire club.

Of the last nine meetings between the two sides, Burnley have won eight, including 1-0 at Turf Moor in the reverse fixture back in November.

That result marked Burnley’s first league victory of the campaign, but only four more have followed since, with Sean Dyche’s side sitting bottom of the table and staring relegation in the face.

Burnley are eight points behind 17th-placed Hull and need a win at the KC Stadium to have any hope of retaining their top-flight status.

The hosts have been buoyed by recent wins over Crystal Palace and Liverpool, although Monday’s 3-1 defeat to in-form Arsenal came as a blow, and Bruce knows his side still have a lot of work to do to pull themselves clear of danger, starting with this weekend’s clash.

“It’s a big game for us and it’s a big game for Burnley too,” he told the Hull Daily Mail.

“We’ve shown in the past few weeks that we’re determined to stay in this division. There’s been that resilience again.

“If we’re being honest our record against them isn’t great over the years. We’re mindful of that but we’re at home and we’ve got our supporters behind us. It’s all to play for.

“Let’s hope we can go and perform, and get that little bit of luck you sometimes need. It’s important we stay calm and positive.”

Hull are one of five teams separated by two points from 18th to 14th, while Burnley’s run of one point from six matches – without scoring a goal – looks set to condemn them to relegation back to the Championship.

“We’re obviously in last-chance stab territory,” Dyche said. “You’ve got to be reality bound, the lads are up for it, we have been all season.

“Margins are tight, decisions have gone against us of late. We’ll be ready. We’ve been having to win most of the season.

“We’ve tried to be progressive and affect games in different ways. The desire is always to win, attack teams home and away, that’s always the desire.”

Dyche still has doubts over striker Sam Vokes, who has missed the last two games with a thigh problem, although he will be able to call upon Michael Duff after the defender had his red card against West Ham overturned on appeal.

For Hull, Curtis Davies (thigh), Mohamed Diame (knee) and Andrew Robertson (ankle) are all doubtful, as is David Meyler, who picked up a facial injury against Arsenal.