Hull City’s players will be given Christmas Day off as they prepare to host Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day.
Unlike their Forest counterparts who will be training at the Nigel Doughty Academy, the Tigers squad have been told to enjoy a day with their families by boss Grant McCann.
“They won’t be in on Christmas Day,” McCann told Hull Live.
“It’s a day to spend with your families.
“Last year, at Doncaster, I made the biggest mistake of my life. I didn’t have them in on Christmas morning but we travelled to Fleetwood that night and got beat 3-0 the next day.
“I think it’s just a day to spend with your family, to relax and recover.
“It’s one day on Christmas Day.
"We’ll work hard Monday and Tuesday leading into the game.
“We’ve got a good group and I trust them. It’s not as though any of them will be eating too much Christmas dinner or drinking beer.
"They’re a good group.”
Forest are winless in five after losing their second straight game across Yorkshire at Huddersfield Town on Saturday, while Hull were winning a third straight outing at the KCOM Stadium, seeing off Birmingham by three goals to nil.
A fourth successive home success would see City leapfrog stuttering Forest and edge themselves closer to the top six, as a demanding period takes hold, something McCann is only too aware of.
“The Christmas period is always demanding with the four games in quick succession. It takes a lot out of them,” McCann said.
“Everyone loves to come and watch the football on Boxing Day but I wonder if they’d ever change it.
“We get into January and its Saturday- Saturday-Saturday games. Surely they could give the teams a bit of respite (at that time).
“But it is what it is. It’s been like this for many years and I don’t think it’s ever going to change.”
