Preview: Rotherham United vs. Hull City - prediction, team news, lineups

The Millers most recently triumphed away at Stoke City in midweek, while their visitors scored an important victory of their own against Blackpool.

Match preview

After six years of consecutive promotions and relegations between the Championship and League One, Rotherham United set about to maintain their second-tier status this time around, and they made a particularly impressive start before being shaken by the departure of long-serving manager Paul Warne in September.

Matt Taylor was subsequently appointed as the new Millers boss after the recent international break and began life in South Yorkshire with a 1-1 draw at home to Millwall before seeing his side beaten 3-0 away at Blackburn Rovers.

The new manager then oversaw a first win at the New York Stadium last weekend, as his side beat Huddersfield Town 2-1 thanks to goals from Conor Washington and Georgie Kelly.

Hoping to make it back-to-back three-point hauls, the Millers travelled to take on Stoke City on Tuesday night, and after Oliver Rathbone gave them an early lead, the visitors withheld intense pressure to see out a clean sheet and return home with another impressive victory on the board.

Having already reached half of the points tally that saw them just unable to avoid the drop in their last Championship spell, with only 15 games played, the 11th-placed Millers will certainly be pleased with their start and will aim to strengthen their position in the top half with a third straight victory on Saturday.

They welcome a Hull City side who should arrive with a degree of renewed confidence after returning to winning ways last time out.

After a run of four straight defeats prior to the international break left them struggling at the bottom end of the division, the Tigers opted to dismiss manager Shota Arveladze, and interim boss Andy Dawson was unable to make an immediate impact with his first day in the hot seat marked by a 2-0 defeat to Luton Town.

They did then put three points on the board in a 2-1 home win over Wigan Athletic but did not manage to build a positive run on the back of that result with consecutive losses against Huddersfield Town and Birmingham City following, both of which being 2-0 defeats.

Hoping to bounce back from their seventh and eighth league beatings of the campaign, the Tigers most recently travelled to Blackpool on Tuesday, and they were able to return to winning ways, eventually leaving with a 3-1 victory as Ryan Longman initially put them ahead before Greg Docherty restored the lead and Regan Slater wrapped up the points with their third in the 79th minute.

Such a result saw Hull leapfrog Blackpool and move up to 17th spot with a three-point lead over the bottom three, and they will now aim to make it consecutive wins to climb further away from the drop zone.

Rotherham United Championship form:

D

L

D

L

W

W

Hull City Championship form:

L

L

W

L

L

W

Team News

Matt Taylor could deploy a relatively unchanged starting XI after a victory and a clean sheet away at Stoke, with veteran defender Richard Wood again likely having to settle for a place on the bench after Cameron Humphreys, Grant Hall and Wes Harding were deployed last time out.

Key forward Chiedozie Ogbene will likely continue a spell out of action through injury, meaning Georgie Kelly should lead the line alongside either Tom Eaves or Conor Washington.

Hakeem Odoffin earned a first league start of the season away at Stoke, but he will have to fight to keep his place with Ben Wiles, Oliver Rathbone and Dan Barlaser all expected to stay in from the outset.

Andy Dawson may also be tempted to stick with a similar Hull team for Saturday's trip after a win of their own in midweek, although top scorer Oscar Estupinan is likely to come back in and lead the line, having netted eight Championship goals so far this season.

He could be flanked by Ryan Longman and Greg Docherty after both got on the scoresheet away at Blackpool, while Dogukan Sinik and Dimitrios Pelkas are also fighting for attacking spots.

Ozan Tufan is also pushing to return to the starting XI in midfield after Regan Slater, Jean-Michael Seri and Ryan Woods were preferred in the engine room last time out.

Rotherham United possible starting lineup:

Johansson; Harding, Hall, Humphreys; Norton-Cuffy, Wiles, Barlaser, Rathbone, Bramall; Washington, Kelly

Hull City possible starting lineup:

Baxter; Christie, Figueiredo, Jones, Greaves; Woods, Slater, Tufan; Docherty, Estupinan, Longman

We say: Rotherham United 2-1 Hull City

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