Five-a-side: Best of both! Hull City

Birmingham City prepare to welcome Hull City to St.Andrews on Thursday evening with the Sky cameras present to watch the action unfold.

It looks set to be a tasty encounter with Gary Rowett’s side looking to get back to winning ways and Steve Bruce’s men looking to go back to the top of the league.

Both sides suffered what they would class as poor results at the weekend, with Blues losing 2-0 away at Queens Park Rangers and the Tigers drawing against 10 man Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night.

When you look at both teams on paper, it is quite easy to say that Hull have the better players because quite honestly, they do, but you have to look at it from an outside perspective, Blues have fantastic team spirit and given the right amount of support, we could see a shock.

Both squads are full of fantastic players and it has been very very difficult to choose who I want in this weeks five-a-side team but after much deliberation I believe I have found the best possible side.

Down below is the usual set up with a goalkeeper, a defender, two midfielders and one striker and I have also opted to stick with the usual format of three home players and two away players.

GK: Allan McGregor.

The Scotland international keeper has managed to rack up a very impressive 17 clean sheets so far this season, three more than Blues shot-stopper Tomasz Kuszczak and that is why he is in my side for this weeks fixture.

If we include international appearances for this season, the 34 year old has 18 CS which is even more outstanding (but his international one was against Gibraltar).

Because Hull have a tendency to net one or two goals on average in most games, being solid in net is something that McGregor prides himself on so that is why he is in this weeks five-a-side team.

DF: Paul Robinson.

Despite getting completely mugged off by Sebastian Polter in the build up to QPR’s second goal at the weekend, since Robinson has come back into the fold for Blues he has been very solid.

In his 21 appearances for the club so far this season, Robbo has managed to keep 10 clean sheets, scoring three goals in the process also, and because of his tactical awareness for the game nowadays he just needed to be in this weeks squad.

MF: Maikel Kieftenbeld and Stephen Gleeson.

I have decided to choose the dynamic defensive midfield duo for this weeks five-a-side team because when they perform, they tend to perform in the big games.

Since joining the club last summer for a reported fee of £160,000, Kieftenbeld has proven to be the bargain of the season by showing his passion, desire and hungry for every single game that he has played in.

Over the 34 matches that he has played for Blues this season in both league and cup, the Dutchman has scored three goals, two of them being absolute screamers, but he has picked up nine yellow cards.

By adding a hard tackling midfielder into this weeks team, I think I have given the side some muscle in the centre where we haven’t had it before and that it what we have been lacking in recent weeks.

Next to Kieftenbeld I wanted to add his partner in crime, Gleeson. The duo have played exceptionally well together this season and I think that the defensive awareness of Kieftenbeld has allowed Gleeson to really show off his talents this campaign.

Last season, Gleeson was really carrying the side and when he wasn’t in it you really noticed but this season I feel like he is a bit of an unsung hero with some of his performances.

Similar to Kieftenbeld, Gleeson has found the back of the net a few times this year with four to his name as it stands, one of those coming in front of the Sky cameras last August against Derby County, and if he can do that again for us on Thursday that would be brilliant!

ST: Abel Hernandez.

To finish the side off I thought I would add the free-scoring Hernandez to the team.

Personally, I think the Uruguayan striker is the biggest goal threat in the Hull City side. With 18 goals to his name already this season, Hernandez averages a goal every 1.8 games, which is as good as a goal every other game.

His class has really shone through this season and his goal scoring habits have helped the Tigers reach the top of the table in recent weeks.

Given the chances, Hernandez will most certainly punish you, as Charlton Athletic found out when he scored a hattrick in a 6-0 romping last month, and I am sure Rowett will have highlighted just how much of a handful he is likely to be.

Blues and Tigers fans, do you agree with the side that has been picked for this weeks five-a-side? Would you change any of the players that have been selected? Let us know in the comment section down below!