Hull need one final push on the road to clinch survival

THE Championship final day will see a nerve-jangling decider for the final relegation place. Cardiff City and Plymouth Argyle are both already down (barring an unprecedented swing in goal difference for Plymouth) but Hull City, Luton Town, Preston North End, Derby County and Stoke City are still fighting for their lives.

- Peter Smith

Here we zone in on Hull, currently third from bottom and the bookies’ favourites for the drop. They head to Portsmouth on Saturday (12.30pm)

HOW DID HULL GET HERE?

Hull sacked Liam Rosenior at the end of last season after missing out on a play-off spot despite backing him in the transfer market. In came former Hamburg boss Tim Walter ready for another massive summer window, partly overseen by former Stoke head of recruitment Jared Dublin and funded by the big money sales of Jacob Greave and Jaden Philogene. They lost Liam Delap from last season too after his loan ended.

Some signings have worked out better than others. Oscar Zambrano, who Dublin had scouted for Stoke, was signed while under investigation for breaching doping regulations — and subsequently banned for 16 months. He remains on loan at Hull until the summer, with Hull paying a portion of his salary — and his suspension has been reduced to 12 months.

Walter was gone by the end of November, having won three and lost eight of 17 league games.