Tom plays a major part
GRANT MCCANN believes Tom Eaves is finally making a big splash in the Championship pond after inspiring Hull to victory.
The summer free transfer signing headed Tigers on their way with his fourth goal of the season just before half-time.
Kamil Grosicki and Keane Lewis-potter rounded off the win but Hull boss Mccann praised his giant striker.
“I was really pleased for Eaves,” he said.
“He was on the move, it was a great header. I thought he had a good performance again.
“You have come from being the big fish at Gillingham to being just another fish here. He has found that going a little bit tough, but he is starting to reap the rewards because he has stayed confident.
“He knows he’s at a bigger club, a higher league. Some of the things he was used to doing in League One he can’t do.
“He has got every tool to play at this level and he has shown that in recent weeks.”
The Tigers dominated
HULL the first half but needed every second of it to make the breakthrough, with Eaves striking in stoppage time when Birmingham gave away an unnecessary corner.
It was curled to the near post where he got in front of his marker to glance a header across goal and past Connal Trueman.
That put Blues exactly where the Tigers wanted them in having to come out to look for an equaliser.
And that is how they were caught in the 58th minute when Jarrod Bowen picked out Grosicki and he raced through to lift the ball over Trueman.
Alvaro Gimenez missed the visitors’ best chance with a quarter of an hour remaining, heading Jefferson Montero’s near-post cross wide, before Lewis-potter’s low shot made it 3-0 with two minutes left.
Mccann’s opposite number Pep Clotet was left to reflect on another defeat compounded by the loss of his No.2 Paco Herrera, who has returned to Spain on compassionate grounds.
Clotet said: “Paco had a very difficult family problem for the last couple of months. He tried to manage that problem as much as possible.
“This week he went home. I need to respect that at the end of the day family comes first.
“The problem he is having means it is very unlikely he will be able to return.”
BIRMINGHAM