It has been a fairly solid start to life at Hull City for Grant McCann.

Following his appointment as the Tigers' new manager this summer in the aftermath of the departure of Nigel Adkins, the former Doncaster boss has overseen a respectable first few months of the campaign at the KCOM Stadium.

Six wins and five draws from their opening 17 league games have left Hull 15th in the Championship table going into their clash with Preston North End on Wednesday night, with a victory giving them the chance to climb as high as ninth in the second-tier standings.

The prospect of climbing further up the table is one that McCann will surely be thinking about following some recent impressive performances from his side, and he will soon get the opportunity to put his side in an even better situation to do that, with the January transfer window now not much more than a month away.

Here, we take a look at three positions within his Hull side, that McCann may want to consider strengthening in January in order to give them that scope to make a push up the table.

Right-back

While club captain Eric Lichaj does seem to have the first choice right-back slot pretty comfortable nailed down, it is hard not to notice that there are very few options behind him in this particular part of the pitch for the Tigers.

As a result, there may well be some concern that Hull would leave themselves exposed down that flank if Lichaj were to pick up a suspension or long-term injury, something they will not want to happen.

Indeed, with Lichaj now 31-year-old and his contract at the KCOM Stadium set to expire at the end of this season, you wonder whether it could be worth considering bringing in a fresh option in that position, with a view to eventually taking over from the American as the club's go-to man at right-back.

Right Winger

Although they will not want to admit it, Hull fans may once again have to start thinking about the possibility of losing Jarrod Bowen again when the window reopens in January.

The winger was linked with a move to the Premier League with the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham in the summer, and it would be very little surprise if that was to happen again at the turn of the year, considering his continuing prolific form this season, and the fact that his current contract with the Tigers is set to expire at the end of this season.

With Bowen scoring 11 of his side's 25 league goals this season - over 40% of them - he will clearly need to be replaced if he is to leave the club in January, meaning this is a position Hull have to be assessing their options in, even if it is only as a just in case.

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Centre Forward

They may have only strengthened upfront with the signings of Tom Eaves, Josh Magennis and Norbert Balogh in the summer, but this is a position that could be well worth Hull looking at again in January.

So far this season, Eaves and Magennis have scored just two league goals each - the latter currently matches that with his red cards tally - while Balogh has yet to start for the Tigers as he aims to work his way up to full fitness after being snapped up by the club as a free agent.

You feel therefore that Hull may well want to bring in some more reliable options in front of goal when they get the chance to in January, particularly if they are to risk losing their goals from elsewhere on the pitch if they do find themselves fielding interest in Bowen at that time.