While the supporters are clamouring for Jozy Altidore and Kamel Ghilas to be allowed to rip Southend United apart in the Carling Cup tonight, it seems more likely that the game represents the last chance saloon for Daniel Cousin.
There is logic in the argument that Alitdore and Ghilas should be given an opportunity to use tonight's tie as a practice session for their future Premier League partnership, with a winnable game at Wolves due this weekend and with just half an hour - albeit a devastating half an hour - of duality to their names thus far.
But Cousin is too important to just discard. He signed for the Tigers a year ago this week and, despite injuries and accusations of a lack of commitment, he has undoubtedly proved a proficient goalscorer when handed the chances and, more pertinently even than that, has been known to find the net in the biggest games.
Southend does not represent the biggest game, of course. But it's big for Cousin, assuming he maintains any desire to stay at Hull City, something called into doubt initially by the noises he made in the summer about a last payday in the Middle East, followed by his abominable display against Tottenham Hotspur last week which prompted Phil Brown to remove him after just 20 minutes.
Brown uses ties like these to exercise the fringe players. Cousin now finds himself very much a fringe player, scrapping for his future. Unlike the professional trainers like Bryan Hughes and Nathan Doyle, however, Cousin has a mentality and ability which means that his Tigers career hasn't gone into water-treading mode just yet.
Altidore and Ghilas have swiped his thunder even though they have yet to start a game together, but at the very least Cousin needs to be kept in the loop as, in the event of either of the new boys taking a whack, he is still our best hope for anything resembling regular goals. A place in the XI, a confidence-boosting performance and a goal or two against a League One defence tonight should represent both a fresh start and a fresh challenge for a good striker.
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