With this Saturday’s home fixture against Rotherham just under 1,000 tickets (at the time of writing) away from a complete sell-out, it hammers home the positive steps taken from those within the club to reconnect what was a broken fanbase.
For added context, our last home fixture against The Millers in February 2019 was played infront of a crowd of 10,785.
Despite a mixed season on the pitch for City, the efforts by Acun Ilicali, Tan Kesler and many others to raise the club’s profile and attendances can only be commended, especially towards matches at the MKM Stadium. This has also given City an advantage on the pitch as well, having suffered only one home league defeat since November against the leaders Burnley just prior to the International break.
With the Tigers aiming to push for a top-half finish in the remaining eight games of the season, the incentive of reduced ticket prices allows the people of the city to feel part of a club moving in the right direction after years of stagnation and decline.
Liam Rosenior has also spoken about how he wants the club to be appreciated by the wider population, something he was a part of in the journey which saw us reach the Premier League and FA Cup Final a decade ago.
On-pitch matters
Aside from all of the excitement of a packed MKM Stadium, the fixture does present City with a great opportunity to hit 50 points against a Rotherham side in need of a result to maintain a gap between themselves and the relegation zone.
Having lost their last three, The Millers find themselves only four points ahead of 22nd place Huddersfield after their most recent fixture against Cardiff was abandoned. They also remain without an away success since a 1-0 win in another Yorkshire Derby back in November against high-flying Sheffield United.
City also produced one of their most dominant attacking displays of the season in the reverse fixture, winning 4-2 at the New York Stadium. Rosenior will be hoping the side can produce a similar performance in front of the home fans, hoping to improve on a frustrating draw at Reading two weeks ago.
This game also sees the return of former Tigers striker Tom Eaves. Since swapping East Yorkshire for South, the big striker is yet to find the net for Rotherham in twenty appearances, with his last league goal coming for City 12 months ago in a 2-1 defeat at Millwall.
Prediction
With it being the highest league attendance at the MKM for six years , hopefully the players can live up to what will be a great atmosphere.
That being said, Rotherham are in desperate need of points between now and the end of the season, so it won’t be as much of a walkover as people might think. They also pose a better defensive record than City.
However, they did struggle to contain our attacking threat in October and we could see a similar game play out tomorrow if our attacking players play at their maximum, as Rotherham failed to keep up with such dynamism and intent.
Prediction: Hull City 3-1 Rotherham United.
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