City will be gunning for a second home win of this fledgling Championship campaign against one of the promotion favourites
Former Southampton star David Prutton says Hull City have nothing to fear when they host his former club at the MKM Stadium on Saturday, aiming for a second win of the season.
City return to their home ground for the first time in almost a month, looking to back up their encouraging point at Swansea City last weekend, after John Egan’s 97th-minute equaliser.
The Saints, under Will Still, have so far endured a fairly subdued start to the new season with just one win and a defeat from their opening five games.
Sunday’s drab goalless draw with arch-rivals Southampton at St Mary’s saw the South Coast outfit booed off after mustering just one shot on target against Pompey, and they sit just a point above the Tigers in the early-season table after three draws.
Prutton, who was born in Hull and played for the Saints during his playing career, says that while Still’s squad has as much talent as anyone in the league, City have nothing to fear as they look to respond to that 3-0 home loss against Blackburn Rovers last time out in front of their own supporters.
“It’s very definitely a work in progress,” Prutton told the 1904 Club podcast. “I’ve got a lot of time for Will, and what he’s done so far in his career and having spoken to him on a couple of occasions, you’ve got a very ambitious and determined manager there, which obviously belies his age. It’s not meant to sound condescending at all, but he has achieved a lot, and he’s got a real sense of composure and confidence about him, which I’ve got a lot of time for, because of how thoroughly he works.
“We (Sky Sports) did the first game against Wrexham, which, on another day, Wrexham would have put that game to bed. With a bit more clinical finishing, they’d have been absolutely home and hosed before Southampton scored so very late on, but they’ve got a hell of a squad. On paper, it’s up there, I think, with collectively one of the strongest ones in the division.
“Though it’s about City getting into a rhythm, it’s about them getting into a rhythm as well, and hopefully from a City persuasion, it’s not this weekend.
“They should absolutely be one of the ones knocking on the door of at least the top six come the end of the season, and it’s just about getting all those, at times, expensively assembled parts put together in one coherent unit.
“There’s nothing to fear, but I don’t think I’ve seen a team yet so far in the Championship that – I’ve seen good teams and teams perform consistently, but not one quite yet that’s really striking fear into the hearts of the opposition.
“And Hull City should go into this one, not in the sense of not fearing anything, obviously being wary of what Southampton have got capability wise going forward, but they will have the pressure and the target on their backs, won’t they, because they’re expected to be one of the front runners, and it hasn’t quite clicked as yet.”
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