Can see Hoy on the bench for this one.Need more at half back than he has so far shown but decent cover if we need to change things at half back or full back.
Pele wont like it but i would hold him back and give him extended game time off the bench so that we have some impact on interchanges

Think we need the win more than they do.
Defeat for rovers will leave them with some egg on their faces, but I wouldn't see it necessarily derailing their year.

Defeat for us, on the other hand, will deflate even further what little gas there is in the Fc balloon, especially if it becomes a convincing defeat. The gloom surrounding the supporter base could become suffocating before anyone else has even started their season!

I've seen a number of derbies down the years where the end result has totally defied all pre-match predictions, I'm hoping tomorrow night is going to be another one of those.
A win, and we are all going to be in a much happier frame of mind going forward. Let's keep the faith, as always.

Bit disapointed in the team selection if its accurate. I dont see how Lane warrants a squad place at all, we have two young second rows champing at the bit to prove themselfs, i think weve missed a trick playing Jebson second row freeing up Sao/Ashworth to bulk up our bench props.

You d hope Balmforth is involved soon too or could be another young talent lost due to square pegs in round holes (cator)

You start wondering if this club ever learns, sorry for the pessimism but as i say square pegs in round holes and players constantly selected despite having terrible form houghton/lane last season.

Never known so many confident red and white heads, will love it if we can turn them over

Will be glad for the talking to stop and the action to start, know the club have to do their thing to shift as many tickets as possible but theres been a load of stories about little the last few weeks.

And can we all agree that if the team go behind we get behind them! Know they have depressed us all the last couple of years but we have picked up a bad habit of going silent and walking out early. People surely dont need to be home that early on a wet February Thursday night

I haven't seen a Rovers fan on Twitter who isn't acting like their squad is the Penrith team. So many of them talking about how it's going to be a hammering.

79 years since I was taken to my first Hull derby at Craven Park. Rovers were mum's team and dad a committed 'black and white'. No idea who won but remember both had only average teams in that mid-forties era.

Time again for my usual fearless prediction.........Hull to win a close game!

Balmforth perhaps is not fit enough, good enough or injured with his shoulder. We have options at hooker. When we are down on numbers during the season he may well get an opportunity to prove his worth. I hope so

I'm definitely in the minority but I'm actually fairly confident about tonight. Rovers backline definitely beats us on paper, but I don't think they are significantly better than us in the pivots, and their pack is mediocre at best. I think we will dominate down the middle and I think they are in for a rude awakening if they are expecting a walk in the park.

I wish I shared your confidence, I hate derby's even when we're favorites, never mind when we're not. I just can't see anything other than them winning by 16-20 points. They have a very good back row and we're going to need to be solid on the edges to even have a chance.

Looking at the strength of the line ups and last years league positions I can't see anything other than a Rovers win, however, i'll be very disappointed if it's a 20 point or more margin.

Rovers by 14 is my prediction. Will feel like we're still in it after 70 minutes but they'll score in the last 10 to put the game to bed.

Approximately eight hours to kick-off and, having put my Worzel Gummidge type positive head on, I'm going to stick my neck out and go for us to upset the odds and shade a narrow win by 20 - 18!

I know, in my heart of hearts, that everything is pointing towards a comfortable win for them, and obviously this isn't exactly the greatest team we've ever had, but you can't spend your life cowering in the shadows, we all have to have belief in something, a ray of hope to hold onto. Hope, ultimately, is what allows all of us to live a positive life.

Having said all that, I'm still nervous as how the night could unfold, have a feeling my stomach will be doing somersaults by 8 tonight!
Still, it's only a game, isn't it!!

I don't get the hype around them battering us. Good Friday last year was a freakish result, but it was in the middle of some rank form - we then beat them at Craven Park in a spell of better form.

They have lost leaders like SKD, Linnett and Abdull - signed some backs that on paper look good, but Evalds aint no winger, and Hiku as a pivot could take a few weeks to get timings and fluidity. Their halves are talented players for sure, but there is no game manager between them and they've signed 2 pack members from a relegated side.

We played well in the first half against Wigan, then Wigan pulled away when our extended bench didn't match to theirs and we took players off. I think we will win tonight 18-10