Hull boss Steve Bruce bemoaned the absence of his top players as the Tigers' winless streak stretched to 10 matches in Saturday's loss to Swansea.
Things are becoming increasingly bleak for Hull, who have have not scored in seven of those 10 games.
Lying second bottom, they are also battling a player shortage, with Jake Livermore's fifth yellow card ruling him out of the Boxing Day trip to Sunderland and defenders Curtis Davies and Alex Bruce limping off.
With Michael Dawson, Mohamed Diame and Tom Huddlestone already sitting out, Steve Bruce is without a handful of senior men.
"Today just highlighted for me the need for your big players," he said.
"I still expect a better performance than we witnessed in the second half but we're crying out for some of our bigger players. Whether it's injuries or suspensions we couldn't cope without them.
"You need your big established Premier League players and far too many of ours are sitting in the stands."
Bruce also revealed that SOS calls for Tom Ince and Maynor Figueroa, on loan at Cardiff and Wigan respectively, were imminent.
"We'll probably recall Incey and probably Figueroa too. We are down to 15 or 16 players who are available," Bruce said.