HARD WORK PAYS OFF FOR TIGERS
Adkins believes side will survive
VICTORY over Nottingham Forest may have lifted Hull out of the bottom three, but Tigers boss Nigel Adkins insists
he isn’t looking at the league table.
First-half goals from Jon Toral and Liverpool loanee Harry Wilson gave Adkins his first league win since taking charge on December 9, and the former Southampton boss felt that it was a richly deserved reward for his side’s hard work.
“It was only what we deserved, we were very good,” Adkins enthused.
“We should have scored a third after half-time as well. But I thought defensively we were very solid, very resolute in what we were doing. It was an exceptionally good away performance.”
Toral had had the chance to give the visitors an even earlier lead after Eric Lichaj brought Will Keane down in the box, only to be denied when Forest home debutant Costel Pantilimon correctly dived to his right to stop the Spaniard’s penalty.
But Toral atoned within two minutes, heading Sebastian Larsson’s corner home from close range to score his first league goal for the Tigers.
Matty Cash came agonisingly close for Forest after 17 minutes when his low drive came back off the foot of the post after a dogged solo run through the centre.
But the visitors doubled their advantage seven minutes before the break when Jarrod Bowen drove down the right and released Keane, who fired a low centre across the six-yard box for Wilson to bundle home at the far post.
Forest boss Aitor Karanka replaced Lichaj with Lee Tomlin at the interval as he sent his side out to chase the two-goal deficit, and they looked as though they had been gifted an opening four minutes after the restart when the ball ricocheted off Hull rightback Ola Aina outside the six-yard box and fell to Ben Osborn.
The Forest attacker twisted and turned in a bid to find space but saw his eventual effort comfortably blocked.
The hosts could have extended their lead further three minutes later had Bowen been able to keep his left-footed effort down after turning to fire a loose ball at goal following Keane’s mishit from Larsson’s left-sided cross.
And the home crowd’s hopes of a fightback soon receded into spells of sterile possession, the hosts failing to register a shot on target until substitute Joe Lolley’s bending effort was cleared out of the goal mouth by Aina six minutes from time.
Adkins insisted that he had been unaware that the win had lifted his side out of the relegation places.
“I didn’t realise we were out of the bottom three, I just looked at our performance,” he said.
And despite ongoing unrest among fans off the pitch at Hull, Adkins believes that results will improve due to solid work behind the scenes.
“What we’re doing is good. I know it works, and sometimes you need to just win the games of football.”
Opposite number Karanka could only appeal for patience after an abject home display which was met with a chorus of boos at full-time.
“I can only ask for More patience,” Karanka pleaded. “I’ve been here for one month, and change needs time.
“I am confident because when I came here I knew that I was coming to a really really big club with a new CEO and sporting director rowing in the same direction. We just need to keep going.”