Hull City have been enduring a miserable run of form in the Championship since the turn of the year, which has seen Grant McCann’s side go from potential play-off candidates to relegation strugglers.

Grant McCann’s side suffered another heavy defeat against Stoke City last weekend, with the Tigers falling to a 5-1 defeat against one of the teams in and around them at the bottom end of the Championship table.

The Tigers’ defeat at Stoke means that they have now suffered an alarming run of four successive defeats, which has seen them drop down to 21st place in the table, just two points clear of Charlton Athletic, who currently occupy the final place in the bottom three at the moment.

Those two results have seen the Tigers’ winless run in the league extended to 11 matches, and McCann’s side are really low on confidence at the moment and struggling to really find any form from their players, although there have been some who have been out injured during their winless run.

Things were looking much more positive for Hull in the first half of the campaign, with the Tigers having been looking like they were capable of challenging the top six, with both Jarrod Bowen and Kamil Grosicki pulling the strings on the counter-attack.

QUIZ: Can you name these 15 ex-Hull City defenders?

Here then, we take a look at Hull’s best performing XI so far this season based on their average ratings from Whoscored…

Considering that Hull have lined up with a 4-2-3-1 formation for most of the season so far, that is the preferred system for their best performing XI here – and it is worth baring in mind that players who may have made fewer appearances but performed well in those can be in the side ahead of others who have featured more often.

In goal there was really only one option, with George Long having been an ever present between the sticks for the Tigers throughout the campaign so far, and the keeper has managed to average a rating of 6.2 per game, despite having shipped a lot of goals in recent weeks.

In the two full-back positions both Eric Lichaj and Callum Elder are unsurprisingly their best statistically based performers so far this term, with the pair having averaged ratings of 6.8 and 6.7 respectively, which goes to show how much Lichaj will be missed during his absence for the rest of the season.

At the heart of the defence, again the choice in not really a surprising one, with Reece Burke and Jordy De Wijs having been the Tigers’ most consistent and reliable defensive partnership, and Hull have missed both when they have been out injured for spells over the last few weeks.

Hull have seen a lot of players get minutes at the base of midfield so far this season in the Championship, but it is Leonardo da Silva Lopes who has been their best statistical performer in that position with an average rating of 6.7 per game, while January signing Herbie Kane joins him having averaged a 6.5 rating.

In the number ten position Jackson Irvine’s rating of 6.4 makes him Hull’s highest performer in the role behind the striker, while on the left-hand side Kamil Grosicki - now with West Brom - makes the side for his performances in the first half of the campaign.

Surprisingly, Jarrod Bowen (16 goals) misses out to Mallik Wilks down the right-hand side, with Wilks having averaged a 6.4 rating per game since his January arrival at the club, while up front Josh Magennis edges out Tom Eaves with a 6.6 average rating.