After a successful first season back in the Premier League, Hull will be looking to push on from their 16th place finish but will hope that the Europa League doesn’t get in the way.
The Tigers aren’t relegation favourites but they aren’t guaranteed to stay up and considering the Thursday/Sunday schedule has taken its toll on the likes of Tottenham and Newcastle in previous seasons, they will do well to balance their resources over the next 10 months.
Steve Bruce has brought in six new players this summer to bolster the squad as they embark on their first season in Europe, in a hope to avoid picking up injuries as well as rotating a squad which will surely get tired with all the added fixtures.
With climate change, commercial overload and endless fixtures, footballers are being pushed to breaking point. It’s time their unions became a more powerful, unified force, writes JAMES NALTON
Including races at Newmarket, York and Ascot


