ASTON VILLAPossessionHull 50%Aston Villa 50%Attempts on targetHull 0Aston Villa 0Attempts off targetHull 0Aston Villa 0CornersHull 0Aston Villa 0FoulsHull 0Aston Villa 0Barclays Premier League****Venue: KC Stadium Date: Wednesday, 21 April 2010 Kick-off: 1945 BSTCoverage: BBC Sport website, BBC Radio 5 live & local radio
TEAM NEWS
**Hull’s temporary boss Iain Dowie must decide whether to revert to a 4-4-2 formation after playing with a lone forward at Birmingham on Saturday.**Dean Marney is ill and Bernard Mendy is also doubtful with a hamstring strain.
Aston Villa are likely to be unchanged from the side that started at Portsmouth on Sunday.
Midfielder Fabian Delph is out for the rest of the year with a ruptured cruciate ligament, but Luke Young has recovered from a leg injury.
Hull
**Doubtful: **Marney (illness), Mendy (hamstring)
Injured: Ashbee, Garcia, Zaki & Zayatte (all knee), Folan (hip), Gardner (ankle), Hunt (foot)
Aston Villa
Injured: Delph (knee), Harewood (foot)
MATCH PREVIEW In the wake of his tirade against “the cosseted lives” of the iPod generation, Iain Dowie welcomed a change of tune in the attitude of his Hull players at the weekend.
My thing with the iPod generation is that when they leave the ground and go away to their cosseted little lives, they shouldn’t forget what’s got them where they are and what impact they can have on a generation
Nonetheless, the hard-earned draw at Birmingham leaves Hull effectively four points from safety and only victories will now do if they are to avoid facing the music. As Dowie has pointed out, relegation could cost up to 70 jobs at the club.
Three of Hull’s last four games are at home, with the one remaining away match at Wigan. Dowie admits to still being haunted by Crystal Palace’s relegation on the final day of 2004-05, and he was Alan Shearer’s deputy at Newcastle last season when their fate was sealed by a last-day defeat at Aston Villa. Another failure would bring an unwanted hat-trick.
Villa have a similar mission to Hull from now until the end of the season - to win all of their remaining matches. That is the target set by manager Martin O’Neill to give the club any chance of rescuing a top-four finish from a campaign that has grown in frustration.
MATCH FACTS****Head-to-head
• Aston Villa have won seven successive league and cup matches against Hull and kept a clean sheet in each of the last six meetings.
• Hull’s only victory in the last 14 attempts against Villa spanning 40 years was at home in the old Second Division in August 1987 (W1, D3, L10).
Hull
• Hull have lost seven of their last nine matches, earning only four points.
• They have conceded 15 of their 70 goals in the last five minutes of games.
• The Tigers have taken a mere 18 points from games in which they scored first - the worst record in the division.
• Paul McShane is poised to make his 150th club start.
• Nick Barmby is on 99 club career goals.
Aston Villa
• Villa have lost one of their 14 league games in 2010 (W5, D8, L1).
• Their away record is bettered only by Manchester United and Chelsea.
• Victory would make Villa the first club outside of the Big Four to reach 1,000 Premier League points.
• John Carew is poised to make his 100th Premier League appearance.
LEADING GOALSCORERS
Hull
Hunt: 6 goals (6 league); Bullard: 5 goals (5 league);Geovanni: 5 goals (3 league)
Aston Villa
Carew: 16 goals (9 league);Agbonlahor: 15 goals (12 league)
MATCH OFFICIALS****Referee: Mike Dean
Assistant referees: Dave Bryan & Jeremy Simpson
Fourth official: Chris Foy
**LAST LEAGUE MATCH LINE-UPS****Hull **(D0-0 v Birmingham, a): Duke; McShane, Sonko, Mouyokolo, Dawson, Fagan, Bullard, Boateng, Cairney, Kilbane, Vennegoor of Hesselink (Altidore 75). Subs not used: Myhill, Barmby, Geovanni, Marney, Cooper, Olofinjana.
**Aston Villa **(W2-1 v Portsmouth, a): Friedel; Cuellar, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, A Young, Milner, Petrov, Downing, Carew (Heskey 72), Agbonlahor (Delfouneso 80). Subs not used: Guzan, Sidwell, Reo-Coker, Beye, Clark.
MOST RECENT MEETING
Aston Villa scorers: Dunne 13, Milner 29, Carew (pen) 88This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
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