Tigers aiming to down rock-bottom Burnley in relegation six-pointer

Burnley will suffer an immediate return to the Championship if they fail to overcome fellow relegation battlers Hull City in their vital visit to the KC Stadium, with Sean Dyche’s Clarets currently cemented rock bottom of the Premier League table.

Steve Bruce’s Tigers had secured back-to-back victories over Crystal Palace and Liverpool before their 3-1 defeat to Arsenal last time out, while the under-siege visitors have now gone six games without a win since stunningly toppling former champions Manchester City.

Dyche’s battling Burnley are 11/4 with Coral to earn three points on their travels to East Yorkshire, a result which would see them avoid a daunting drop down divisions and maintain their top-flight status for at least another week.

Of those previous six league matches without a victory, the faltering Clarets have failed to net a single goal, and their determined boss Dyche has urged his struggling strikeforce to be clinical when faced with attacking opportunities.

“We have made chances but we have got to take them, we know that,” stated Dyche. “The quality is there – I believe in the players – it is just the moment of quality, and delivering that at the key moments.”

The Scot even referenced Barcelona’s Lionel Messi when rallying his frontline, claiming they need to put away chances in defining moments of their upcoming encounter to topple Hull, who are even-money to triumph.

“You know the little fella who has done all right over in Spain? He had a couple of moments like that, when he was prepared to deliver the quality last night,” he continued.

“They are often the defining margins in any game. We were on the right side of it to the tune of only losing five games last year.”

The travelling side were recently boosted when they won an appeal against Michael Duff’s Upton Park dismissal in the previous outing, making him available for this vital Tigers meeting, but striker Sam Vokes still remains a doubt.

Bruce could start Hull’s all-time top-flight goalscorer Nikica Jelavic, with the Croatian having featured for nine minutes in the loss to Arsenal. The only other injury worry for the hosts is David Meyler, who could be a doubt after receiving a cut to his face, though he finished the full 90 minutes against the Gunners.

Dublin-born playmaker Stephen Quinn struck his first goal of the campaign against Arsenal and is 5/1 to grab his second anytime, while clinical Croatian Jelavic is 6/1 to open proceedings. For the visitors, Ashley Barnes managed to net the winner in the reverse fixture and the astute Austrian attacker is 9/1 to score last again in his latest outing.

When these two sides met at Turf Moor, it was Dyche’s men who rallied to a 1-0 win on home soil, which was their first victory of the season, and he will hope his side can complete a domestic double and prolong their Premier League stay.