The Tigers host the Lilywhites at the MKM Stadium on Tuesday evening
Paul Heckingbottom has warned his Preston North End players about the dangers posed by Hull City, particularly from those Tigers performers he knows well from his time at Sheffield United.
Inconsistent City were beaten 2-1 at Watford on Saturday in a game they dominated in the first period, which saw Oli McBurnie notch his fifth goal of the season, created by Cody Drameh, before a dismal second-half display saw them concede their 13th and 14th goals in their seven outings.
McBurnie has been in electric form since arriving in the summer and has scored in his last three games. His form has seen him named in the EFL’s Team of the Week in successive weeks.
Heckingbottom is acutely aware of the threats posed by McBurnie, but also John Lundstram, and he’s highlighted Ryan Giles, Drameh, Kyle Joseph and Joe Gelhardt as players to be wary of in a team capable of causing his side problems.
North End sit sixth in the Championship after an impressive start to the campaign, while City are 18th after an inconsistent opening couple of months under Sergej Jakirovic, but have shown their potential by seeing off Southampton in their last MKM Stadium outing.
“Yeah, they’ve changed players, manager,” the Lilywhites boss told the BBC ahead of the game. “Dangerous team, love crosses into your box – that’s their biggest threat. They don’t have to play well to win because they are a dangerous team. They’ve got good moments in them, so I think that’s our biggest challenge.
“We think we can hurt them, we think we can create against them, we think we can cause them problems, but they’ll be thinking exactly the same against us. We’ve got evidence in our minds that we can do it; they’ve got evidence that they can do it. They are a dangerous team.”
Heckingbottom is no stranger to McBurnie, and admits he’s been impressed by the former Blade both in terms of creating and scoring.
“Yeah, and I think they’re sort of getting the best out of him,” Heckingbottom said of the Scotland international. “I mentioned the crosses – big thing. Giles one side, whether it’s been a winger on the other side, whether it’s been Drameh the last game, the ball’s coming in and he’ll thrive on that, he enjoys that.
“And like I said, I think for successful crosses at the top of the league – they’re not getting the most number of crosses in, but success is there and that’s because of the quality of the delivery. But whether it’s Oli McBurnie, whether it’s Joseph, whether it’s Lundstram from midfield, whether it’s Gelhardt, whether it’s the opposite wing-back, those boys are believing that they’re going to get on the end of it.
“Yeah, they’re playing and performing. They’re a dangerous team… you can see that. The Southampton game is a great example of it. Southampton come away statistically looking like they’ve dominated the game, and they’ve lost 3-1. Big moments from all players, real good goals, clinical. So yeah, they’re a really dangerous opponent.”
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