Hull City's captain Michael Dawson is hoping this weekend's relegation clash with Birmingham City can earn his side some breathing space at the bottom of the Championship.

Hull are currently nine points clear of the bottom three, with a crucial trip to Birmingham ahead of matches against Aston Villa and Wolves. With the latter two fighting for promotion, Hull will be hoping for maximum points from the weekend's clash with the Blues at St Andrews.

“We had a run of games that we were looking to pick up points from before the international break and have a nice break,” Dawson was quoted by the Hull Daily Mail. “It didn’t go great, obviously we were looking to beat Barnsley at home, we drew there and then the game against Millwall certainly in the first half was below par and a disappointing game to lose."

The Tigers have since turned their fortunes around, having scored seven in two games culminating in the excellent 3-0 win at Portman Road this week. Dawson believes a win this Saturday would give his side the cushion they need.

“We’ve bounced back there with two wins on the bounce and we go to Birmingham at the weekend for a big one and if we can pick up that win it will certainly give us even more breathing space then we have at this moment in time."

A win would leave Hull 12 points clear of the drop zone, with both Burton Albion and Sheffield Wednesday still to play.

The Verdict

There are three worse teams in the Championship than Hull, that is for sure, but with two of the top three to play after this weekend, they would like to put some points on the board to give them a bit of room to manoeuvre. Dawson is an experienced leader and I'd fancy them for at least a point at Birmingham, if not all three.