Middlesbrough boss Jonathan Woodgate said it was time his side repaid the club’s fans by ending their nine-game winless run.
Boro will be bidding for their first Sky Bet Championship victory since mid-September against Hull at the Riverside on Sunday.
“We need to start winning football games, there’s no getting away from that and we’ve got a big game against Hull at the weekend, which we need to win,” Woodgate told a press conference.
“We need to start winning games to get more fans in the stadium. They’ve been very patient so far, very good.
“I can’t thank them enough really for the patience they’ve given us, so we need to start repaying them with wins.”
Woodgate, whose side sit third from bottom in the table, is hopeful defender George Friend will be fit.
Rudy Gestede, Ryan Shotton and Marcus Browne remain sidelined through injury and George Saville is suspended.
Hull are nine points and 10 places better off than Boro. Their recent away form – they have won have won three of their last four on the road – has lifted them to within six points of the play-off places.
“It’s all about playing with a no-fear approach and making sure we can go to any team in this league and get a result,” boss Grant McCann told a press conference.
“That’s the way we approach every game. Every game is tough at this level, but we’ve got a belief in what we do.”
Stephen Kingsley, Norbert Balogh and Jon Toral are still out and Josh Magennis serves the final game of a four-match ban.
