Madine’s all-round brilliance sinks Hull

BoLToN manager Phil Parkinson hailed Gary Madine after his top scorer’s ninth goal of the season earned a 1-0 win to lift Wanderers out of the relegation zone.

‘Gaz came to us one day and said he wanted to take free-kicks. I wish he’d let us know sooner,’ said Parkinson. ‘he has been practising and he can hit them all sorts of ways. his all-round performance — heading the ball out of the six-yard box at the end — was incredible. To do two games in a few days at that level is testament to how he is keeping himself.’

Parkinson described Bolton’s third win in four games as ‘colossal’, especially after losing midfielders Karl henry and captain Darren Pratley to first-half injuries. hull are only out of the bottom three on goal difference but manager Nigel Adkins remains optimistic.

‘We have 20 games to go and I’d like us to get another 10 victories,’ he said. ‘What I have now is an opportunity in the transfer window and also, after this quick run of games, we can get more work into them on the training ground.

‘I have total belief we are going to pick up some victories. We need stability and continuity and we need to get some talented players available for selection.’