Hull City

Image source, Rex Features

Hull City have recalled defender Brandon Fleming from his season-long loan with League Two Doncaster Rovers.

The 25-year-old has made 17 EFL appearances for the promotion-chasing South Yorkshire side since joining them in August.

Doncaster visit Hull City in the FA Cup third round on Sunday but Fleming will not be able to play for his parent club as he is cup-tied, having featured for Rovers in their first-round win at Barrow in November.

The left-back came through the Tigers academy and has made a total of 45 appearances in all competitions for the Championship club.

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Aston Villa's Jaden Philogene is due for a medical at Ipswich ahead of a permanent move to Portman Road.

The winger is expected to complete the switch for around £20m plus add ons, ending his brief six-month return to Villa Park.

Philogene also had European interest, including from La Liga, but Ipswich are due to finally end their pursuit of the England Under-21 international.

They agreed a fee of around £18m with Hull in the summer only for Villa to activate their buy-back option - having sold Philogene to the Tigers in 2023.

Hull received about £13.5m of the fee because Villa had a 30% sell-on clause in the agreement which took him to the KC Stadium.

The 22-year-old chose to rejoin Unai Emery's side but has managed just four starts, including against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, and 11 substitute appearances.

Ipswich maintained their interest and have now convinced Philogene - who was keen on working with boss Kieran McKenna last summer - to move to Suffolk.

The Tractor Boys are looking to add to their squad as they battle for survival and have already signed defender Ben Godfrey on loan from Atalanta.

Adam Pope
BBC Radio Leeds reporter

Image source, BBC Sport

Leeds United forward Joe Gelhardt is expected to leave the club on loan this month.

Gelhardt, 22, has started only one match this season - United's 3-0 defeat by Middlesbrough in the EFL Cup in August - and has rarely featured in Daniel Farke's matchday squad.

The deal may be dependant on the extent of Patrick Bamford's current injury, however, after the 31-year-old missed Leeds' trip to Hull at the weekend with a hamstring problem.

Hull are believed to be one of the clubs interested in Gelhardt, who has not scored for the Whites since August 2023.

Hull City have reportedly made a £1.7m bid for Watford defender Ryan Porteous, who is unhappy with the Hornets and is looking for a move in January. (Fussball Europa - in German, external)

The Tigers are also close to agreeing on a permanent deal for former Middlesbrough midfielder Matty Crooks from MLS side Real Salt Lake City. (Hull Daily Mail, external)

Millwall and Hull City are interested in Nottingham Forest defender Willy Boly, who appears to be out of favour with Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo after only making four Premier League appearances for the top tier side this season. (AfricaFoot - in French, external)

Want more EFL transfer stories? Read Tuesday's full gossip column.

Image source, Getty Images

Hull City forward Abu Kamara says he had a point to prove - after scoring twice in their 3-3 draw with Championship leaders Leeds United.

In a week in which the forward was forced to apologise for a social media post on Portsmouth's Instagram account, Kamara opened the scoring before lashing home a late equaliser at the MKM Stadium.

"It feels great – I've had a tough period of time but to come away with the two goals fills me with confidence to push on and do more," he told BBC Radio Humberside.

"I needed to prove a point today and there were times I was thinking 'Shall I hide away from it?', but I'm not that kind of person."

The 21-year-old spent last season on loan at Portsmouth before completing a £4.5m move from Norwich City in August.

"It's been very difficult but the support around me from the team and manager, just knowing they have my back has made it easier," he said.

"Scoring my first goals for the club is massive and to open my account in a Yorkshire derby feels great."

Image source, Rex Features

Hull City forward Abu Kamara has apologised for the timing of a social media post on Championship rivals' Portsmouth's Instagram account.

The 21-year-old, who spent last season on loan with Pompey, posted emojis on the Fratton Park club's social media following their New Year's Day win over Swansea.

That came after he had been criticised by some fans for his part in the lead-up to Middlesbrough's winning goal in injury time against the Tigers on the same day.

"It was just to congratulate my friend who scored his first goal in the Championship, there was no malicious intent with it," Kamara told BBC Radio Humberside.

"I do realise it was wrong timing and I made a mistake so I apologise if I've made anyone feel annoyed."

Kamara has made 17 league appearances for Hull City this season after making the move from Norwich City in the summer, and head coach Ruben Selles says there will be consequences for the player.

"Abu knows it was bad timing and we've talked to him and the group about it but the main thing for me is we can all make mistakes and understand the situation from both sides," said Selles.

"We will analyse it and do our thing internally."

Leeds United will look to retain their place at the top of the Championship table when they visit struggling Hull City on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

A point would be enough to see them stay at the summit but having conceded a late equaliser against Blackburn Rovers just two minutes after taking the lead, Leeds will be hoping to bounce back quickly.

Hull suffered defeat in injury time on 1 January as Middlesbrough's Alex Gilbert scored from close range to leave them 22nd in the table.

• Hull City have won just one of their last 11 league meetings with Leeds United (D3 L7), a 2-0 win at Elland Road in December 2018.

• Leeds United have recorded a clean sheet on each of their last four away league trips to face Hull City (W2 D2), never before keeping five straight on the road against a single opponent.

• Following a 2-1 win over Swansea before Christmas, Hull City will be aiming to win back-to-back home matches on a Saturday in the Championship for the first time since February 2024 against Cardiff and Millwall.

• Leeds United will be aiming to win three consecutive away league games for the first time since winning their first four such matches of 2024 between January and February.

• Leeds United are unbeaten in each of their last 16 Yorkshire derbies in the league (W12 D4) with the Whites winning more points in such fixtures since the beginning of last season in the EFL than any of their Yorkshire rivals (25).

Image source, PA Media

Ruben Selles hailed the reaction he got from Ryan Longman after the winger scored the winner at Blackburn as a substitute.

Longman had been taken off after 55 minutes of the Boxing Day defeat at Preston North End and started on the bench at Ewood Park before going on to score his first Tigers goal in over two years.

Selles told BBC Radio Humberside: "Ryan was very upset after the last game because he didn't have a very good game and wanted to make a point going onto the pitch.

"It was not only the goal, he was all over the place running, pressing, getting people one-on-one, commanding the team, running back - that's the kind of mentality we need.

"I'm happy because the effort is really good from that dressing room. Everyone is fighting really hard to get results for the club. We have a good platform and hopefully it's the beginning of a good run away from home."

Mike White
BBC Radio Humberside

Image source, Rex Features

What do Hull need?

Goals, goals, goals - it's that simple. Hull are among the lowest scorers in the Championship and their leading scorer has four goals.

They need strikers of quality but they're often near impossible to find in January, especially for a team looking to fight off the threat of relegation.

Are they likely to do any business?

Owner Acun Ilicali and sporting director Jared Dublin both recently indicated that new boss Ruben Selles would be backed so expect some movement, but they'll have to try to move on some of the players who aren't fitting in with what they're wanting to do. Again, that's easier said than done.

Despite an agreement in place with Reading after tempting Selles away, might the financially-troubled Berkshire club be tempted to part with the likes of Lewis Wing or Harvey Knibbs if the price is right?

How successful have they been in recent January windows?

Depends on your definition of success. They signed the likes of Fabio Carvalho on-loan from Liverpool last season and he was a key figure with nine goals in his 20 appearances in the run-in to a campaign that saw them finish just one place outside the play-offs.

However, that wasn't enough to keep then-boss Liam Rosenior in a job and the decline since then has been well-documented with the knock-on effect immeasurable.

Are there likely to be any notable departures?

There may have been under Tim Walter, who had seemingly not endeared himself to some of the bigger characters and influential figures at the club, but as he is no longer there, that seems unlikely now.

That said, the summer recruitment wasn't near good enough and they'll have to try to offload some of the players who aren't getting it done in an attempt to free up budget and squad space for a January recruitment effort that is badly needed.

How key is the window?

Season-defining. They're in a perilous position and after going so long without a win before their pre-Christmas victory over Swansea, the Tigers are facing a predicament similar to the one they found themselves in at the back end of the 2019-20 season when they were relegated to League One.

Then, under the previous ownership, the finances were managed in a way that was ultimately sustainable and they got back up at the first time of asking.

With the often extravagant expenditure under Ilicali, a lot of it on failed transfer activity, the fallout could be far more grim if they were to drop to the third tier for a second time in five years.

Blackburn Rovers welcome Hull City to Ewood Park on Sunday as promotion hopefuls face relegation battlers.

An own goal proved the difference-maker between the two sides in Hull earlier this month, with Rovers the winners then.

Three points here would prove helpful to each club in different ways, with the Tigers currently 22nd in the table and fighting to avoid the drop while Blackburn are fifth and hunting for a play-off spot.

• Blackburn have only lost two of their last 13 home league games against Hull (W8 D3) but did lose 2-1 last season under Jon Dahl Tomasson.

• Hull City are looking to win consecutive league visits to Blackburn for the first time ever, with this their 32nd trip to Ewood Park in the EFL.

• Blackburn have lost their final league game in five of the last six years (W1), including a 3-2 defeat to Hull in 2023.

• Hull have won their final league game of the year in each of the last two years – they haven't done so in three in a row since doing so between 1981 and 1984 (4).

• John Eustace has won both of his away Championship matches against Hull City (one with Birmingham, one with Blackburn) but has lost his only home game against the Tigers, in December 2022 with the Blues.

Image source, Getty Images

Hull City manager Ruben Selles reacts to his side's 1-0 defeat against Preston North End at Deepdale:

"We created situations to score at least one goal and then in one moment we went 1-0 down and never recovered in terms of the score. I think we were competitive enough."

"We created situations, it's not just the situation with Regan (Slater) after five minutes. We created other situations and we need to make it count, but we created the situations so we just need to work on the details.

"You come away from difficult games in difficult competitions and first of all we need to be competitive and second of all we need to win football matches.

"Without being competitive we are not going to win games. We need to continue developing that competitiveness and in games like today, when we have the opportunities, we have to make it count and then we'll be in a better place.

"We have to try to not make excuses. We know we can do things. Now we have to do it to the very end."