One To Watch: Sam Clucas

Hull City are flying high towards the top of the Championship table and their current form can’t be taken lightly. They will be a tough opposition tomorrow, that’s for sure and I believe that in order to get anything from the game, we have to defend their threats.

Upon trying to select the one to watch this week, I had several contenders. Diame and Akpom were amongst the contenders because they both have the ability to score and at the end of the day, goals are what grants the points. But I thought that in order to score goals, chances need to be created out wide as this is how Hull City play. Therefore I have picked the attacking wide man, Sam Clucas.

Having had 32 league appearances this season, I can pretty much guarantee that he will be playing tomorrow. In that time, he has scored 5 goals and assisted 7. This shows that he does make an impact in terms of being a match changer. As a wide striker, he likes to cut inside in order to get on the end of crosses. This could cause our full backs a problem as they get dragged out of position.

So who will mark him? As a left sided wide striker, the right full back would usually pick him up. This week, many fans have called for Caddis to come back into the team, and if Rowett was aware of this, then maybe he will be re-introduced. However, I personally believe Shotton would be able to deal with Clucas better purely for the fact that he is faster than Caddis and taller so he can challenge in the air better. But if Caddis was to mark Clucas, I just hope he would be able to stand up and limit his space.

Clucas, despite having a baby face, is an experienced player who has the great positioning sense. He often makes space for others by pulling out wide to allow his midfielders to run through the gap. This needs to be watched by our central defenders so I hope we are able to communicate. This is another reason why I would want Shotton to start because the back four have been consistent and this needs to remain the same. Despite the QPR result, we have been good defensively.