Hull City are keen to make the KCOM Stadium a fortress and plan on making it four straight wins in front of their own fans against Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day.
The Tigers were 3-0 winners over Birmingham City on Saturday, a result which lifted them to within a point of Forest, who were beaten 2-1 across Yorkshire at Huddersfield Town.
Defender Reece Burke starred in the win over the Blues and hopes to continue the Tigers’ upward trend on Thursday, against a Forest side smarting having gone five games without a win.
“It’s imperative that we’re strong at home,” said Burke.
“We want the KCOM to be a real fortress and we seem to be doing that now.
“It’s three home wins on the spin now, which is a pleasing statistic after we were a little bit inconsistent on home soil at the start of the campaign.”
Hull have now won three of the last four at home, and keeping that momentum going is key to any hope of Grant McCann’s men challenging for a place in the top six, according to Burke.
“Hopefully we’ve nipped that in the bud now though and we continue to pick up points and wins at home – starting with the Nottingham Forest game.”
McCann's Tigers triumphed at the City Ground in October, but haven’t beaten the Reds on Humberside since 2012.
“We know it’s not going to be an easy game,” said the 23-year-old former West Ham youngster.
"We picked up a good win at their place earlier in the season, especially after going down to ten men, but that won’t count for much on Boxing Day.
“It’s a different game and a different challenge, but one we’ll be more than ready for.
“They’re a very good team with some very good players, but we also have very good players of our own and we’ll be determined to register another maximum return.”
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