Hull City: Coventry City evidence may force Ruben Selles' hand | OneFootball

The new City boss faces a dilemma when it comes to his right-back spot

Given Hull City's position at the bottom of the Championship, Ruben Selles will be under no illusions that plenty of short-term changes need to be made at the club.

The former Reading boss is no stranger to working in the face of adversity, having proven exactly that during his time at the Select Car Leasing Stadium under the backdrop of uncertainty surrounding the Royals' very existence, but now the Spaniard has the task of transforming the Tigers' immediate fortunes around.

In the first two games of his reign, Selles will have been encouraged by some aspects of his side's performances, whilst there have been signs of the same old cracks, which were evident throughout the entirety of Tim Walter's short reign in East Yorkshire.

A winless run that stretches from October 1st emphasises how devoid of confidence and ideas the City squad have been in the two-and-a-half months that have followed that 3-1 success at Queens Park Rangers, as they continue to prop up the second tier standings.

With the January transfer window looming large, Selles has plenty of big decisions to make regarding the outlook of his squad.

And, whilst this particular dilemma doesn't suggest a player departure anytime soon, Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Coventry City gives the 41-year-old plenty to think about when it comes to who starts at right-back.

Lewie Coyle's form for Hull City has tailed off in recent weeks

Since signing from Fleetwood Town in the summer of 2020, Lewie Coyle has, for the most part, been one of City's most consistent performers, proving many doubters wrong in the process after rising from League One up to the higher reaches of the second tier with his hometown club.

The club captain proved exactly that by keeping former Championship promotion-winner Cyrus Christie out of the side for lengthy periods in both the 2022/23 and 2023/24 campaigns, highlighting his commitment to the cause by playing through the final three months of the first of those seasons with a rib injury.

And, whilst Coyle's steely determination to see his local club succeed, which continued into the early weeks of this season under Walter, the truth of the matter is that, along with several of his colleagues, the 29-year-old's form has tailed off.

Earlier on in the campaign, the former Leeds United man ranked sixth across the entire division for the number of tackles produced per game, with a figure of 3.8, despite Hull's drab start to the season.

That number has since dropped to a figure of 2.4, as well as the concession of two penalties alongside further drops in average metrics, as City continue to have just one clean sheet this season to their name.

Saturday's encounter at the CBS Arena saw Coyle targeted from minute one by Coventry's dynamic winger Ephron Mason-Clark, who put in a man-of-the-match performance in the process.

Despite winning nine of his sixteen duels, the full-back was dribbled past on three occasions and was constantly overworked, making four clearances, one block, and one clearance off the line.

Of course, the rest of City's defence were far from perfect in the West Midlands, with Charlie Hughes conceding a penalty while Ryan Giles and Sean McLoughlin also failed to have the desired impact Selles would have hoped for.

Off the back of this, it has become a hot topic of discussion among supporters as to whether the new boss should make a defensive tweak, which could see summer recruit Cody Drameh return to his natural position.

Cody Drameh will hope to feature in his natural position

After his switch from Leeds United, Drameh has endured a mixed start to his career in Black and Amber.

However, the 23-year-old would be right in some cases to make the counter-argument that, under Walter, he was deployed on his less-natural left side.

In 16 games and 12 starts, the former Fulham youth prospect has shown a dynamism to his game with one goal - a thunderbolt at Loftus Road - and the creation of two further big chances.

However, particularly in the 3-1 defeat to Middlesbrough in late November, his defensive fragility on the left side was continuously exposed by Ben Doak, who ran Drameh ragged before he was hooked on 56 minutes in place of the aforementioned Giles.

What gives Selles a strong selection headache in terms of whom to stick with in the long-term, regardless of Coyle's leadership abilities, is proven by the fact that, in five fewer games, Drameh has the beating of his colleague when it comes to interceptions, tackles and possession won over the course of his appearances, whilst the captain has performed stronger when it comes to recoveries, clearances and facing off against opposition wingers on a game-by-game basis.

Once again though, Drameh, and many City supporters would argue that, in difficult circumstances throughout Walter's reign, the London-born man performed admirably on the majority of occasions out-of-position.