Match Preview: Sheffield United vs. Hull City (FAC5)

Last updated : 12 February 2009 By @blades_mad1889

sheffield united vs. hull city
Sheffield United were in battle last Saturday as they entertained Sheffield Wednesday in the Steel City Derby - It took the Owls just 51 seconds to opened the game up when Tommy Spurr fired home from 17 yards out, but on the five minute mark Greg Halford's long throw was affective when it met the head of Arturo Lupoli to make it 1-1; but Marcus Tudgay smashed the ball home beforeb half-time to seal a 2-1 win.

The Blades will once again be without striker Darius Henderson who serves the second of a three match suspension after receiving a straight red card in the 2-1 away win at Southampton; he will also miss next Saturdays Championship fixture at Plymouth Argyle.

Blades boss Kevin Blackwell will further be required to chance his line-up as he will be without defender Leigh Bromby and striker Arturo Lupoli and Jamie Ward who are all cup-tied.

Jamie Ward, a £330,000 capture from League Two outfit Chesterfield will not be allowed to feature against the Tigers, the 21 year old striker is cup tied after featuring in the Spirites cup run against Mansfield Town, Droylsden and Ipswich Town.

Leigh Bromby, who re-signed for the Blades last week will sit this match out - the former Sheffield Wednesday and Norwich City Defender is cup tied having featured in the Hornets 1-0 victory over Scunthorpe United in round three - he played just one minute after replacing Tamas Priskin in the 89th minute to defend their lead.

Meanwhile, Arturo Lupoli featured whist on loan to Norwich City (from Fiorentina) in the FA Cup Third round against Charlton Athletic; he scored the equaliser at the Valley but the Canaries lost the replay 1-0.

Possible Blades Line-Up: Paddy Kenny, Kyle Naughton, Matthew Kilgallon, Sun Jihai, Gary Naysmith, Greg Halford, Brian Howard, Nick Montgomery, Stephen Quinn, Billy Sharp, Danny Webber.

Hull City flew past Newcastle United (1-0) and Millwall (2-0) in the previous rounds of the prestigious cup despite needing a replay against their Premiership counterparts in round three.

Tigers boss Phil Brown will be pleased with their performance this season having at one point almost made it to the summit of the league table, but a run of bad results have allowed the Humberside outfit to slip down the table and could soon be looking in fear at the bottom three.

They will be without former Glasgow Rangers striker Daniel Cousin who is recovering from a knee injury whilst new record signing Jimmy Bullard (knee) may return - having made his debut in the 2-0 defeat at West Ham United the £5,000,000 signing from Fulham missed the fixtures against West Bromwich Albion and Chelsea (drew 2-2 and 0-0).

Veteran midfielder Nick Barmby (calf) is out injured, but Anthony Garner (thigh) could return against the Blades. Meanwhile defender Bernard Mendy can return after he missed the 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge through suspension after picking up five yellow cards throughout the course of the 2008-09 season.

The visitors are likely to wheel out former Sheffield United keeper Matt Duke to face his former club; he was signed in August 1999 from non-league Alfreton Town and stayed just one season having failed to break into the first team - this largely due to the dominance of Simon Tracey. He left to join Burton Albion in August 2000 where he stayed for four years before signing for Hull.

Whilst City striker Dean Windass who is currently on loan to League One outfit Oldham Athletic - he joined United initially on loan from Middlesbrough in November 2002, scoring on his debut in a 5-0 win at Bradford City before signing on a free transfer. He left the Lane in July 2003 to join the Bantams having made 22 (+0) appearances and scored six goals.

Possible Tigers Line-Up: Matt Duke, Sam Ricketts, Michael Turner, Kamil Zayatte, Andy Dawson, Richard Garcia, Ian Ashbee, Dean Marney, Kevin Kilbane, Deiberson Geovanni, Craig Fagan.