There is always heartache associated with a game between Portsmouth and Hull City. One, or possibly both, of the two teams are embroiled in some kind of strife when either Fratton Park or the KC Stadium plays host to them.

Both clubs fell from grace simultaneously, of course, courtesy of Premier League relegation in 2010. At the time, Portsmouth were in trouble so ridiculously deep that they looked like becoming the first top tier club to go out of business. That in the end they “only” became the first top tier club to enter administration, thereby guaranteeing a demotion that already looked likely, was of little consolation. When the two sides first reconvened in the npower Championship, it was earmarked as Portsmouth’s last ever game, such was the seemingly irretrievable mess their finances had become.

They survived that, of course, and here we now, preparing for another clash between the two while a new and apparently even more serious internal implosion threatens Pompey once more. Although their manager Michael Appleton has claimed a good January for the business of playing football, with just one departure during the transfer window, the club as a whole has to cope with chronic ownership issues that have extended to pleas for political intervention during Prime Minister’s Questions. On top of that, their name is being dragged through the mud at Southwark Crown Court as two of their old hierarchical icons play the blame game before a judge. With some, if not all of Portsmouth’s current woes, we can at least partially say we’ve been there and so empathy is not too expensive a commodity to offer their supporters. That said, of course, we want to give them a different, new reason to be miserable this weekend.

Trips to Fratton Park bring back quite a few memories. There was a storming 4-1 win there in 1969-70, with the holy trinity of Chris Chilton, Ken Wagstaff and Ken Houghton each bagging a goal. There was a rather less auspicious 5-1 defeat on New Years Day 1991, which led to the sacking of the devilish Stan Ternent and, a month later, the appointment of  the deep blue sea-esque Terry Dolan.

Then, in recent times, we had in 2008-9 the only Premier League goal Dean Windass ever scored for the Tigers (which he didn’t, really; and we all know it); the mad, dramatic, soul-destroying 3-2 defeat in 2009-10 in Iain Dowie’s first game as Temporary Football Management Consultant, a job title on a silliness level that even the BBC would struggle to match; and last season, back in tier two, the tremendous 3-2 win on the New Year bank holiday that featured four goals in the second half, the crucial one put away by one Nick Barmby.

This weekend, the Tigers go to coastal Hampshire looking for a fourth npower Championship game without defeat. The midweek draw against Doncaster Rovers, caused by iffy finishing and merciless opposition defending, was a disappointment without being a calamity, but Barmby may force himself into some fresh thinking with both the midfield and the attack.

There is a strong claim floating through cyberspace and via newspaper vendors that Seyi Olofinjana, who played his first League match for City in 650 days when he ventured on as a sub against Doncaster, will be in the starting XI. That, unless the tactical focus of a 4-5-1 switches, might be at the expense of Corry Evans, who was absent in contribution, if not in person, on Tuesday evening. If there is a switch in the 4-5-1′s role, and Olofinjana becomes one of a tight three-man central midfield, then Cameron Stewart, also blowing colder than hot, might find himself in danger.

As for the attack, much depends on whether Robbie Brady’s banged bonce is no longer an issue, as his last promotion to the starting line-up in the Championship led to his scoring the only goal of an excellent win at Reading. Matt Fryatt, who played better on Tuesday but still can’t re-discover his finishing skills, knew he needed to grab his sudden return to the starting XI with gusto against Doncaster, but in the absence of a goal he must now feel at risk.

The defence isn’t a problem – City now have the best defensive record in the division courtesy of Tuesday’s clean sheet – although you’d like to think that alleged aerial threats from James Chester and especially Jack Hobbs would be able to be more effective when venturing up for set-pieces, a part of City’s game that has become so desperate, people in the crowd are making jokes about it.

Appleton, whose side are in the bottom half but remain ten points clear of the drop, has had to call up a few youngsters to fill his squad due to illness affecting Ricardo Rocha and Dave Kitson, and various injuries that have forced Luke Varney, Tal Ben Haim, Joel Ward, Jason Pearce and Aaron Mokoena to miss training. Their form is inconsistent, but they did win 3-0 at Peterborough in midweek and their side still contains Greg Halford and the loathsome Liam Lawrence, players who have a habit of doing well against the Tigers.

The game is the first of a quiet February for City, who have just three further matches during the month courtesy of scheduled opponents having the gall to enjoy making progress in the two domestic Cup competitions.

Bookies have City at 2/1 for the win, with Portsmouth rated at 13/10. The draw is a 9/4 shot. Please gamble responsibly, natch, and be careful of that wiry fence behind the away end. One day it will have someone’s eye out. Oh, and c’mon City.

You’ve just been embarrassed in the Cup by a club brand new to the Football League – what do you want next? A week off to recover and lick some wounds, perhaps. Tough. This is the Championship, which uniquely in England combines a 46-game campaign with international breaks, meaning quick Saturday-Tuesday turnarounds litter the season. However, if you must play, you couldn’t wish for much more than a home game against a side in the bottom three.

Ah, dear Doncaster. This isn’t a fixture for away wins. We haven’t won there since 1985, a run so enduring it even permitted defeat during Doncaster’s infamous relegation season of 1997/8. However, they’re a considerate bunch in that corner of South Yorkshire, and have themselves built themselves a run without victory in Hull since 1950, with City winning the last eight at home. This really ought to be a game that at least extends that sequence into a 63rd year, though given the side’s respective positions, you’d hope for a ninth successive win as well.

Doncaster are on the verge of losing Billy Sharp to Southampton, which would helpfully remove their major goalscoring threat. Fellow forward James Coppinger is out with a fractured cheekbone suffered at the weekend, while porcine ex-Tiger Jon Parkin is both shit and on loan at Huddersfield. They’re also missing one-time transfer target Habib Beye, not the ideal preparation when you’ve lost your last six away games and are preparing to face a side that has shown impressive consistency in putting away clubs towards the bottom.

City made seven changes for Saturday’s embarrassment, and are likely to reverse most of them for tonight’s game. Liam Rosenior is fit after his ankle injury sustained at Reading, and we can expect an XI very similar to the one that won impressively in Berkshire. This is the first of three games against sides currently in the bottom nine, and with an ugly 17-day break disfiguring the second half of February ahead of a hectic March, City really need to capitalise on this run of fixtures. The Tigers are no longer than 8/13 to rack up a fourth successive League win, Doncaster are 6/1 to end their decades-long misfortune in East Yorkshire, while City’s first home draw of the season is 3/1.

On the 18th of February 1989, arguably Hull City’s most famous post-war FA Cup tie occurred. The memories and anecdotes from the 3-2 defeat to reigning champions Liverpool in the fifth round are still fresh in the memory and quick to be recalled. Though it ended in defeat, it gave the Tigers what was then a spot of rare national exposure and, given that we led 2-1 at the break, for just a brief period we looked close to one of the biggest shocks the competition had seen.

On the 18th of February 2012, the FA Cup fifth round (or, at least, most of it) will occur once again. It would be very, very nice to be there, be it for another occasion against one of the mightiest names in global club football or a team of clogging nonentities. Since that day at the Ark 23 years ago, we have only been to the fifth round once more and, although that tie ended in victory, the manner of defeat in the consequent quarter final against Arsenal and the general spite and controversy that surrounded our whole FA Cup run (arguments on the touchline at Newcastle; violence from Millwall supporters; a goal that shouldn’t have been given against Sheffield United; the awful display by Mike Riley and conduct of Cesc Fabregas at the Emirates) means that 1989 remains the FA Cup benchmark year of many of the more aged City fans.

To get to the last 16 again, we need to beat Crawley Town. They are led by a total oaf in Steve Evans and have managed to emerge from the non-league pyramid while making absolutely no friends whatsoever, which is some feat, and they make a first ever visit to the KC Stadium as, quite rightly, considerable long shots. City will be runaway favourites to win when one considers status, form and venue, but nevertheless we’ve struggled in cup ties against glorified pub sides in the past – hello Hednesford, hello just about any Carling Cup opponent in the last decade – and their playing staff, if not their existence, should be respected.

Nick Barmby has an opportunity to select a few fringe players but he needs to strike a balance between giving stiffs their chance to impress and not rocking the boat too much. He achieved this in the third round tie against Ipswich Town, which allowed a handful of players usually in the dugout the chance to stretch their legs while still keeping the likes of Jack Hobbs, Cameron Stewart and Aaron Mclean in the team. A similar policy would appear to be the best approach for Barmby, with the likes of Richard Garcia, Tom Cairney, Liam Cooper, Joe Dudgeon and others all having a right to hope for a place.

Crawley, for their part, have much to crow about. They are second in League Two and are aiming for a second successive appearance in the fifth round of the FA Cup, having famously pushed Manchester United at Old Trafford last season, eventually losing just 1-0. However, they should be beaten well tomorrow. Defeat is unthinkable while a draw will provide just one mild consolation (for those fools who place importance on such things); that of a first-ever visit to the Broadfield Stadium for the replay, and a tick of the box.

A well-known bookmaker offers 5/6 on a City win, with Crawley’s prospects of victory measured at 16/5. The draw – an occurrence not yet seen at the KC – is 13/5. Please gamble responsibly and all that, and hope for no dramas and a place in the last 16. A City victory will mean that the Championship game against Brighton & Hove Albion at the Circle will have to be re-arranged; that said, an unthinkable result for the Tigers may still result in that re-arrangement, as Brighton are also partaking in this weekend’s FA Cup ties.

This, frankly, is the game of the weekend in the npower Championship. No doubt that dreadful programme with the black coffee mugs that follows Match Of The Day each week will see more in West Ham United v Nottingham Forest, with both being complete media darlings, but teams lying fifth and sixth respectively, equal on games played and points attained, have far more potential for excitement and intrigue.

City, in sixth, go to Berkshire a bit more buoyant after defeating a resourceful but gratifyingly unclinical Peterborough United side last week. That slender victory was the first since before Christmas and was the epitome of the adage that dictates good sides win when not playing well. There were spells of domination against the Posh but also periods of apparent disarray – especially in the opening quarter – and the three points were greeted as much with relief as with joy. Possibly more so.

Nick Barmby has added Josh King to the squad but ultimately is likely to make no changes to the starting XI whatsoever, assuming Robert Koren recovers from a dead leg – the noises emerging from the club seem to suggest he will. King, meanwhile, is supposedly gifted but raw, and although Matt Fryatt isn’t having the best of times, it would be a manager who mistakes bravery for panic that drops City’s prime goalscorer in favour of a kid on loan from Manchester United who has barely been fitted for a shirt. Like last week, however, there will be intrigue about who makes the bench, with King’s status as a keen young centre forward likely to give him a spot ahead of someone else – one of the two defenders Barmby picked last week seems likeliest to make way.

Reading manager Brian McDermott has to deal with three major absences in Jobi McAnuff, Mikele Leigertwood and Andy Griffin, who have groin, thigh and Achilles injuries. The list could lengthen further because of doubts over the fitness of winger Jimmy Kebe and striker Mathieu Manset. Perhaps the more settled side that Barmby can select will give the Tigers a mild edge going into the game, although Reading are the form team of the division – eight wins from 11 and five straight successes at home – and ultimately it’s anybody’s guess who will win between teams with just a handful of goals separating them. Reading have odds of 10/11 for victory, with City at 3/1 and the draw at 12/5.

Last time the Tigers played at the Madejski Stadium, almost exactly a year ago, a debut goal for Corry Evans seemed to be enough to give City the points but for a late Ian Harte penalty after loan keeper Brad Guzan had fouled Shane Long. The game was also notable for being the 264th and final appearance in a Hull City shirt of Ian Ashbee. That was the first meeting between the two clubs at the Madejski since November 2005, courtesy of both clubs enjoying brief and separate Premier League spells in the interim. Reading’s last home win over City occurred that day; they were 3-1 victors in a game that saw Barmby himself net City’s consolation. This season, the two met at the KC in August under every kind of meteorological storm attainable by science, and a flukey-looking but apparently intentional cross-shot from Robbie Brady gave City the points.

Victory for the Tigers is unlikely to do any more than swap places with Reading as far as the short-term position is concerned, but the next batch of League games are all very much in the “winnable” section, with home games against Doncaster Rovers and Bristol City sandwiching a trip to Portsmouth. All three are in the bottom half of the Championship and, if the jaunt to Berkshire is successful, there is the real prospect of another sequence of consecutive wins akin to those achieved in December that could make a proper dent, shaded black and amber, in the Championship table. C’mon City.

And so we return to the Championship campaign for a game which will be Nick Barmby‘s official first as the Proper Manager of Hull City.

Not that it will make a difference. Barmby has played a subtle and astute game of talking down his role, saying that he just wants to make progress for his club and his team, and less for himself. He is unquestionably a man whose ambition as a manager matches that which he had all through his playing days, but while playing relies on visible natural gifts, management is a different story entirely.

He has made a good start, even though we welcome Peterborough United to the Circle this weekend with three rather debilitating defeats behind us, none of which came with the consolation of a goal. Fortunately, the Tigers are still in the top six and will be unquestioned favourites against Darren Ferguson’s men, whom we dispatched by a solitary goal from their former striker Aaron Mclean at London Road in the corresponding fixture back in September. The handy win over Ipswich Town in the FA Cup last week, featuring roughly half of Barmby’s settled XI and a fit goalkeeper, will also help.

Barmby, his squad fully fit, has trotted out the soundbite about selection headaches this week, now that he has some proper teambuilding to do. The likes of Joe Dudgeon, Robbie Brady and Richard Garcia especially will be genuinely hoping to keep the starting places they acquired in the Cup, though in all three cases they are likely to be disappointed. Even allowing for those three defeats over the holiday period, it is hard to imagine the likes of Andy Dawson, Robert Koren and Matt Fryatt not returning to the starting line-up. Vito Mannone will make his third Championship debut for City in nets, while Liam Rosenior, James Chester and Corry Evans should also be shooed in to return.

Perhaps the truly interesting insight into Barmby’s thinking right now will be visible via his choice of substitutes – assuming Trevor Carson, newly-signed as Mannone’s keeping back-up from Sunderland, takes one place, that leaves only four slots available for *counts carefully*  13 players. And ten of this baker’s dozen will hold genuine hopes of being a sub. Barmby’s diplomatic skills will be tested to their limit as he informs six optimistic players that they are not required.

This fixture is one day short of the seventh anniversary of the Posh’s last visit to the KC, when they left with a creditable 2-2 draw against Peter Taylor’s side in League One. Barmby himself scored that day, along with Stuart Green. City were promoted second from top, Peterborough went down second from bottom. They climbed back up quickly and have since zig-zagged between the second and third tiers, with Ferguson in charge for their better moments over the last few years. They last beat City in 1999/2000 – indeed, they did the double over the Tigers in the basement division that season.

For this game, they are without Tommy Rowe, who has an Achilles problem, but welcome back Mark Little after a groin injury. Their squad has been bolstered further by Nicky Ajose’s return to the club after a loan spell at Scunthorpe. As a team in a reasonably healthy mid-table position they will feel they have an opportunity. A leading bookmaker gives them odds of 4/1 to win, with City at 8/11 and the draw – something that has yet to occur at the Circle this season – priced at 12/5.

At least no-one pretends the FA Cup is magical any more. Years after its decline began, we’d still be force-fed clichés about its unmatched romance, which if anything would turn us away from it. Now everyone accepts that the competition is a shadow of its former great self. Perhaps a more realistic approach to the tournament will actually benefit it in the longer run.

Or maybe it won’t. Fixtures like City v Ipswich certainly won’t help to rekindle the love affair in East Yorkshire or Suffolk. There’s something desperately unsatisfying about drawing a side from your own division in a cup competition. Consequently, we can expect a gate in four figures and a slew of reserves contradicting the brave words about “playing strong teams” from the respective managers. At least it’s only a tenner for season ticket holders. And it’s a chance to win a Cup game for the first time in a little while. And it’s not bloody Wigan. So, er, we’ll stop complaining.

Sadly it seems that one of the few reasons to turn out will be missing: Jimmy Bullard is reporting the most convenient case of ‘flu in the history of epidemiology, and is unlikely to present himself to gain the benefit of our views on his human worth, or acute shortage thereof. He’s not the only one Paul Jewell will be without for their unwanted trek to God’s Country, as Lee Bowyer, Jason Scotland and Andy Drury will also be absent.

It’s been an interesting week for City. Vito Mannone has returned to general happiness and Nick Barmby has retired from playing and stepped up to become our permanent manager (more on this tomorrow – it’ll be good). Mannone is likely to start with Gulácsi, Basso and Oxley all injured, while there could be rare starts for Richard Garcia, Seyi Olofinjana, Jay Simpson and Tom Cairney.

This is the first time we’ve ever played Ipswich in a cup competition, thrillingly enough. We’ve already beaten them once this season, 1-0 back in August. In the nine fixtures played since 2005 after a 14-year hiatus, Ipswich have won only two, including one here – a memorably dreadful 5-2 home defeat in 2007. It’s a brave soul who bets on FA Cup games before knowing the teams, but the courageous can currently obtain 4/5 on City winning, 4/1 on an away win, or 11/4 on a draw that literally not one person in the entire universe wants.

2012 commences with City in a very healthy state. We’re sixth in the Championship, a position more elevated than we’ve spent most of our 107 years of magnificent underachivement in. We have a gifted young squad bursting with skill and commitment, playing a captivating brand of clever, attacking football. We have One Of Our Own in charge, a few pounds to spend in the newly-opened transfer window and every reason to believe that the coming months and weeks will be successful ones.

It also commences with a minor blip in form to correct. City haven’t deserved zero points from visits to Middlesbrough and Burnley, but the bald facts cannot be disputed. Derby are our visitors tomorrow, a side solidly positioned in midtable. They were our opposition for Barmby’s debut as manager, as the Tigers recorded an impeccibly accomplished 2-0 victory at Pride Park in an afternoon of almost complete domination. No matter what occurs tomorrow, a similarly one-sided affair seems almost inconceivable. Days like that come around infrequently.

It’s been a frustrating season for Derby. They’re 11th after a promising start, and this is beginning to look like another season of disappointment for one of the division’s bigger clubs. Away form has undone them: six defeats in 11 games on the road has undermined their season. However, they have some better news ahead of their trip to the Circle with the fitness of Jake Buxton, Ben Davies and Nathan Tyson. They’ve also won their last two games; yet have taken two points from 21 on the road since mid-September. Very much the erratic form of a side in midtable.

For City, there’s one obvious change and one possible. Liam Rosenior is certain to reclaim his place at right-back after Paul McShane stepped in during his one-game suspension on Saturday, while Péter Gulácsi may be absent with a bruised knee/ego. Rumours about Leicester attempting to salvage their season by bidding for Cameron Stewart are unlikely to render him unavailable, though his own signs of tiredness are being reflected among many of his youthfu teammates. Nick Barmby will probably resist the temptation to make numerous changes however, opting to cajole one more effort from his charges with the promise of a lengthy rest with 12 days before our next League fixture.

Despite Derby occupying a loftier position in the footballing world for most of our respective histories, City actually have a better historical record against  the Rams, winning 19 of 51 games compared to their 16. This is largely due to recent form, with the Tigers having won the last three against Nigel Clough’s men. Since hostilities were renewed in 2005 after an 18 year break, Derby have won just one of seven meetings, though did win a League Cup game in 2001 when three divisions separated the clubs.

For reasons of form and history, City are universally odds-on with the bookmaking fraternity, with no-one willing to offer long than 5/6 on the Tigers kicking off the New Year with a win. An away win is rated as long as 4/1, while the first draw of Nick Barmby’s reign a 13/5 chance.

Burnley, then. While they have an impressive (though very distant) history in the game, they really shouldn’t be a team or club that administers fear and pessimism to the central nervous system of grown-up Hull City fans, but they do. They are the bogey team, the ones who always seem to get one over on us and whose record against us is pretty darned good, whether it is deserved or not.

The final game of 2011 takes us to Turf Moor, scene in the past of Brian Marwood’s tears, “you can shove your f**king cameras up your arse”, Michael Turner’s injury time glee, Geovanni’s loopy sixty seconds and the “gutless” accusations of a manager that were overheard in the crowd. We’ve certainly got a few memories of this place. But Burnley’s arcane ground represents only half the story of their hold over City; they do, of course, tend to do well at the KC too. Recent escapades have included a mauling in the Premier League and this season’s outrageous comeback to win from two goals down. They should, justifiably, feel they have the edge, and their form of five wins from the last six in the Championship – and five in five against us - backs that up.

Yet even in defeat, Nick Barmby’s side looked a class act in possession and spirit at Middlesbrough on Boxing Day and club staff don’t concern themselves with alleged bogey teams anywhere near as much as supporters do. It was on Boxing Day last year that a much longer and much more painful sequence of winlessness was put to bed when the Tigers won at Sheffield United. A five-game run of defeats against Burnley is nothing compared to that, although, of course, were it to become six it would still be a sour feeling. The record against Burnley is unimpressive but the Tigers are the team in the play-off zone, the ones who had a similar run to Eddie Howe’s men prior to the reverse on Teesside, and should be favourites.

City will make one change at least, as Liam Rosenior has accumulated five cautions and has to sit this one out. One expects Paul McShane to step in after a period of patience on the bench akin to that shown by any self-respecting reserve goalkeeper. Barmby might choose to shake it up elsewhere, with Richard Garcia staking a claim for a starting place after three good substitute appearances, but then again there was very little wrong with the performance at the Riverside and a bit more luck – and ruthlessness from the strikers – may be all that’s required, though with another game in 48 hours’ time on the horizon Barmby will need to be meticulous in his choices.

An interesting sideshow emerges with the return to fitness of Seyi Olofinjana – a place in the squad may be on Barmby’s agenda for reasons of quality or reasons of display in football’s shop window, with trading between clubs and all the bonkersness that goes with it set to resume on New Years Day. Burnley’s only injury issue concerns defender Michael Duff, who has a hamstring injury, while ex-Tiger Dean Marney will start the game against his former club.

A well-known turf accountant has Burnley at 11/8 for victory, with a City success priced at 15/8 and the draw at 23/10.

The match will bring to a close a 2011 that has seen the club perch on an even footing again after any number of financial crises and turmoils in the 12 months prior. One hopes that 2012, which begins with Derby at home on Monday and then an FA Cup tie against Ipswich Town that reeks of featurelessness, will see the club continue to rise, preferably as far as a promotion place. To all members of the Tiger Nation, a happy and prosperous new year.

And so a Boxing Day battle for third place in the npower Championship looms. Isn’t it great to be a City fan right now? That we find ourselves in this situation during the season of goodwill considering the financial strife and personnel alterations we’ve gone through in the last 18 months or so is a glowing tribute to all involved. But great testimonials aside, it’s a game on Teesside that we’d really like to win.

Though much can happen after Christmas in a football season, something about the trip to the Riverside Stadium feels like a potential watershed. yes, as we’re fourth and have just acquired 12 points from 12, we can already start hoping for promotion, even of that much less stressful automatic type. But many of us will actually believe in it if we beat Middlesbrough, one suspects. The win at West Bromwich Albion in 2008 – ironically a team managed by the same chap plotting against the Tigers tomorrow – occurred a good deal later in the season but then again we were sneaking up from mid-table from New Years Day onwards, with fewer wins and fewer points. This time we’re already up there. Win at Middlesbrough and the belief will grow almost visibly, you’ll see.

Tony Mowbray has turned Middlesbrough, relegated from the Premier League as Phil Brown cleared his throat and went through his scales, into a formidable outfit once more. He is an admirable contradiction as a football man – as a Middlesbrough player he was absolute nails as a centre back, a man who did the unattractive and industrial stuff to great effect and with no prisoners taken, and yet as a manager he has become renowned for his insistence on football that pleases the eye, sometimes even to the detriment of results. His Championship title with West Brom in 2008 and his relegation with the same club 12 months later can both be attributed to his desire to see the game played correctly. An abortive spell at an impatient Celtic followed before he got the chance to return to ‘Boro and begin the process of returning to the top tier. He is clearly succeeding thus far.

But City too have a man in charge that wants the game played in a way to enhance the supporting experience. Nick Barmby’s players have been, at times, totally joyful to observe. Those four straight wins all had spells when the workrate had to come before the possession stuff, but nonetheless the entertainment factor has been plentiful. Barmby, a former ‘Boro man, will see this game as some kind of battle of the purists, and if the Tigers can again outplay a Mowbray side on its own patch then we’ll know even more just how special this side could be.

Barmby will have little cause to change the team, with everyone fit and available. Robbie Brady is a fortunate young man in that his midweek sending off for violent conduct in the reserves only gives him a three-match ban with the stiffs, and not the first team. With the likes of Tom Cairney and Dele Adebola not even now finding a place on the bench, and Martin Pusic and Seyi Olofinjana close to increasing the competition more, the squad is looking most healthy indeed. And in a week or so, we could start to see the evidence of Barmby’s ability to bolster that squad.

Middlesbrough are without striker Marvin Emnes, who has a hamstring injury, but are hopeful of recalling Kevin Thomson, another recent victim of hamstring trouble, and the brilliantly named Marouane Zemmama, who has had a hip injury.

City have been to the Riverside three times and have never won, but all three matches were memorable. The first was in the FA Cup third round back in 2007, when a gallant Tigers side lost 4-3 to the then Premier League mainstays in an eventful replay, which was galvanised considerably by the satirical reaction from the travelling Tiger Nation to the ‘Boro habit of playing music after goals. Since then, there has been a rotten defeat in the Premier League, stained by the presence (and clinching goal) of Marlon King, and a 2-2 draw last season which occurred in thick snow, the type of which postpones many a match at a higher level.

Without victory at the Riverside, the Tigers have to go back to 1985-6 for their last win on Teesside, when goals from Andy Flounders and Frankie Bunn helped Brian Horton’s side to a 2-1 win at Ayresome Park. The two sides met a handful of times more in the second tier over the next few seasons and City were incapable of even scoring a goal, let alone winning.

There are one or two tasty looking Boxing Day fixtures in the npower Championship, but this one is unquestionably the tastiest of the lot. The bookies have Middlesbrough at 10/11 for victory and City at 3/1. The draw is 12/5. And the prospect of being in the top three prior to New Year is incredibly mouthwatering; indeed, beyond that, a couple of timely results elsewhere could even see the Tigers sitting pretty at the top of the table as the chimes for 2012 ring out.

Merry Christmas to all members of the Tiger Nation. And c’mon City.

Hull City v Millwall … this fixture brings back an awful lot of memories, not many of them good. The Lions have an outstanding record against the Tigers – hello to all zoologists who’ve found us by accident – but tomorrow represents a genuine opportunity for City to take three points off them.

Given how football is, and how City can be, nothing should be taken for granted. We were runaway favourites, rightly, against Burnley three weeks ago and they beat us from a two-goal deficit. The current shower that represents Coventry are one of the worst teams in football’s second tier I’ve ever seen, and still we only won by a single goal, clinging on a bit at the end.

Millwall are in a rut. They have won just one of their last half dozen games and have a bad away record, failing to score (let alone win) on their last trio of jaunts away from the Den. But they are Millwall. Whatever reputation a minority of their fans still possess, the team has always represented something of a bogey side for the Tigers. They did the double over us last season, including a single-goal victory at the Circle that represented everything about the perceived negativity of the regime running City at the time. Their previous visit in the League prior to that was back in 2005-6, when they ventured up on a Friday night (due to Hull Fair issues), played us off the park and, in the end, were unfortunate not to win. Ben Burgess scored a late equaliser.

The more freshly-recruited supporter might recall that fourth round FA Cup tie in 2008-9, when contrasting fortunes between our two clubs meant that there was a two-division gap between City and Millwall when they turned up at the KC, and City pulled off a not unexpected 2-0 win, a result threatened with insignificance (despite a place in the last 16 for the first time since Scottish people stopped paying rates) by Millwall antics in the away end and Jimmy Bullard (spit) being introduced to the crowd with a black and amber scarf over his head. That photo sort of haunts us as much as the memory of Millwall fans tossing seats at E1.

Some of us think back to 1987-88, when a Millwall contingent in their alleged “bad old days” turned up at the Ark, needing a win on a rock-hard surface to seal promotion to the top flight. They got it, courtesy of an early penalty and a toothless performance from City under the caretaker stewardship of Dennis Booth. Given that seemingly every Millwall hobbledehoy was in west Hull that day, and a few arrests were made, to this 14 year old it mainly represented one of the most exciting, white-hot atmospheres ever experienced at a match and, apart from the result, the memories of it are tremendous. One hopes that those who choose tomorrow to make the final pilgrimage to the derelict, despondent old place, as promoted by the club, before the last of its recognisable traits as a football ground finally vanish and it’s redeveloped, remember just how atmospheric and buzzing it once was.

So Millwall down the years have generally lorded over us. We haven’t beaten them in the League since the spring of 1987, when goals from Frankie Bunn and Richard Jobson earned the Tigers a 2-1 win. But they’re off form, and we are on it. We’re very much on it, actually, with our three Championship wins in a row making us the form side of the division. The absolute best case scenario is a Tigers win, plus Cardiff and Middlesbrough to draw in their meeting and West Ham to lose, again. We’d still be fifth but there’s be only goal difference separating us from third and a meagre point doing so from second.

However, the priority is the bit we can control, and although Nick Barmby’s side stuttered a bit at Coventry once the lead had been established, as if the general apathy and pessimism of the whole place had rubbed off on the players, he is unlikely to make changes. Robbie Brady, who hopefully has spent his three-match ban viewing powerpoint presentations called How To Be A Team Player (or a book on the same subject), is available again. With Richard Garcia also back, there are finally a few attacking options open to Barmby as far as his bench is concerned.

Jay Simpson, our centre forward on loan at Millwall, is obviously ineligible so Darius Henderson, a player who briefly made us collectively cack ourselves when he scored for Watford at the KC in the playoffs, will start for the Lions. Their keeper David Forde remains out with a thigh injury so former Grimsby Town stopper Steve Mildenhall continues in goal.

A leading bookmaker offers odds of 10/11 on a City win, with Millwall at 3/1 and the draw at 12/5. Apparently you should also gamble responsibly – which we assume means don’t put a bet on a draw. This is City at home, remember. Actually, it’s City at home for the final time until January 2nd, so don’t forget also to bring your Christmas cards, mistletoe and something magnetic for the collecting pewter in case Rev Allan Bagshawe turns up.