Boss Roy Keane felt the game at Hull had 0-0 written all over it until Robert Koren’s second half strike consigned his side to their third successive defeat.

Keane said: “It probably looked like it had 0-0 written all over it and when you go away from home you would accept that, so it’s another difficult one to take.

“I think the effort and all that was fine. I think we could have done with a little bit more composure on the final ball, which is vital to win any game, even in the last 20 minutes when it got a bit hectic.

“We had one or two opportunities in the first half when we were breaking, Jack had one or two half chances, and Jason. That’s where we came up short today.

“I've no problem with the effort or the commitment from the players, that’s fine. But you just need that little bit extra to win football matches, particularly away from home.”

The Blues boss thought Koren’s goal might have struck one of his players its way through and believed his side had a couple of decent penalty claims when Tommy Smith and Connor Wickham appeared to be pulled back: “I think the goal took a deflection and I think there was probably a foul before that.

“I’m certainly not happy with two penalty decisions which we felt ought to have gone our way but we’ve now got to focus on the next game, lick our wounds and look to bounce back.”

Town’s away fans were supportive of the Blues boss despite the loss and the controversy regarding Keane’s criticism of last week’s booing.

The Irishman was unhappy that his side couldn’t give them something to celebrate: “We’re disappointed for them because they’ve travelled up and we know they paid good money and once again we’ve come up short. Disappointed, but we always are when we don't get the right result for the fans.”

Keane confirmed that defender Tom Eastman sustained a groin injury and will be struggling for next week’s game at Norwich, while David Norris was icing his ankle but Keane was hopeful that his skipper will be OK for the trip to Carrow Road.

Tigers boss Nigel Pearson was pleased to get the win: "It was important to get three points. It wasn't an easy game to win with the way in which they set up. We had to work very hard for it and there weren't many chances.

"But it was a good three points and much deserved. It wasn't the most fluent of games, but when we've had three home defeats on the trot there is always going to be a little bit of anxiety around.

"However, I thought we always tried to do the right things and we played some decent football at times, although without being too penetrating.”

Story syndicated from TWTD.co.uk

Photo: Action Images

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