CLUCAS EYES EXIT AS TIGERS SLIDE
Sylla on the spot late to lift QPR
HULL City manager Leonid Slutsky vowed to keep fighting for the club despite consecutive defeats leaving him facing what he described as the most difficult moment of his career.
Having taken the lead through Jarrod Bowen, Hull were beaten by strikes from QPR substitutes Matt Smith and Idrissa Sylla – the latter in injury time – amid a mounting injury crisis.
But Slutsky, who confirmed that Sam Clucas had made himself unavailable for the game ahead of a move to a Premier League club, insisted that he remains committed to the cause, despite describing his current situation as being in unknown territory.
“It’s very difficult to manage this team at the moment,” admitted the Russian.
“I’m very proud because we continued playing. We were not broken. We did not lose 4-0, 5-0. It’s easy to give up after four matches, but I will be fighting. It’s the most difficult situation in my career.
“I will never give up. I have a very high level of ambition. I have always worked in clubs in the top positions and playing in the Champions League. Yes, it’s a difficult situation, but we have a chance (to win promotion).
“We’ve played four matches, we have time to enter the transfer window. I hope the situation will change. But if it doesn’t change, I will keep fighting with this team.”
Clucas’ absence put Hull at a disadvantage before the game had even begun, and injuries to big-money signing Kevin Stewart just ten minutes into his debut, and Fraizer Campbell before half time, meant Slutsky constantly had to reshuffle his side, with few options on the bench.
But they looked like they might still take all three points until the introduction of Smith on the hour mark.
Before that point the home side had barely managed a shot, despite dominating possession, but the target man made the difference.
Sylla hit the post before Smith powered home the equaliser from a superb Luke Freeman cross.
City might have left west London with a point had they taken their chances and a striker less wayward than Adama Diomande could well have won the game for the visitors, but they were forced deeper and deeper as the game went on.
Sebastian Larsson also had a chance to score on his full Hull debut, but was denied by an excellent Alex Smithies save with the score at 1-1.
Just seconds later Sylla netted the winner, completing a comeback full of character which delighted manager Ian Holloway, who revealed that Kazenga LuaLua was playing despite the death of his father hours earlier, while James Perch refused to leave the field despite an injury once his side had used all three substitutes.
He said: “What pleases me is the character I’ve got here. Our fans don’t know LuaLua lost his father yesterday, and he still wanted to play. I had to trust him, it was looking pretty bleak at one time, but he still wanted to do it. He blamed himself for the goal, but thanks to our fans, because he didn’t mean to do that.
“I felt you saw spirit there. They came through it with flying colours, the ones on the bench and the ones who are out there. They’re in a great place down there at the moment, because that was character.”