Hull City will have to regroup quickly following the heartbreaking defeat to Manchester United as they now face a very important match against revived Fulham.

The Cottagers seriously boosted their survival chances by beating Norwich away on Boxing Day and they are very motivated to continue the good run at KC Stadium.

Hull City really did themselves proud with their displays this season, but Steve Bruce is well aware his side need to continue performing at a high level if they are to avoid a straight return to the Championship.

What is really impressive is that the Tigers have done brilliantly against England’s top sides, beating Liverpool at home, while giving very good account of themselves against Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United.

Hull City even managed to open up a two-goal lead against the Red Devils in midweek, but they were then punished for some defensive mistakes and ended up losing the game 3-2.

There is still no cause for concern at KC Stadium as Steve Bruce’s side are four points clear of the bottom three, but a victory over relegation-threatened Fulham would certainly be a giant step towards survival.

And even with some important players expected to miss out, the Tigers have been made 2.10 (11/10) favourites to claim maximum points.

David Meyler and Allan McGregor have both picked up knee injuries in midweek and are unlikely to feature, whereas Robbie Brady, Stephen Quinn, Sone Aluko and Joe Dudgeon are definitely out.

Probable starting line-up (3-5-2): Harper – McShane, Chester, Davies – El Mohamady, Huddlestone, Livermore, Koren, Figueroa – Sagbo, Boyd.

While Fulham had been tipped as one of the candidates for the drop, not too many people believed the Cottagers would indeed go down, but some poor performances under Martin Jol turned the team into genuine relegation strugglers.

Club’s decision to replace the former Tottenham boss with his compatriot Rene Meulensteen proved spot on as the new boss has already started to get his message across to the players.

As a result, the Cottagers have already notched up two very important victories, with midweek’s triumph over Norwich helping the team come on the brink of leaving the relegation zone.

And with their next opponents not exactly firing on all cylinders, there may be some value in backing Fulham for another win at 4.10 (31/10).

Dimitar Berbatov and Philippe Senderos remain injury doubts, but Brede Hangeland, Maarten Stekelenburg and Matthew Brigs are definitely out.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Stockdale – Riether, Hughes, Amorebieta, Riise – Karagounis, Parker – Dejagah, Sidwell, Kacaniklic – Berbatov.