Ruben Selles wants Hull’s standards to keep rising after a 1-0 win at promotion-chasing Sunderland boosted his side’s fight for survival.
Black Cats goalkeeper Anthony Patterson fumbled Joe Gelhardt’s corner into his own net in the 18th minute and Sunderland were frustrated by an impressive display from the Tigers, earning Selles’ side a fourth win from their last five away matches.
The focus for Hull now is on Tuesday when Selles hopes his players can secure back-to-back wins for the first time since he took over in December, against a Cardiff side sitting just below them in the table.
Selles said: “It is about us, the next game, our attention to win the game. This was a fantastic job and we had to show character, be good defensively.
“The situation is always more difficult if you concede first but the application from the beginning here, we showed we were a threat. It is exceptional and we tried to put them under pressure and we did.
“We have to be ruthless. If we keep defending as we do, especially away from home, then we will do well.
“Now we have a challenge. We have not been able to back up our results by taking three points in consecutive games. We need to go on Tuesday, perform well, show character and then the score will take care of itself.
“Things happen in football but if we go there with personality and saying ‘nobody wants three points more than us’, that should be the mentality.”
Having withstood some early pressure from Sunderland, which did not result in goalkeeper Ivor Pandur being tested, the visitors quickly gained in attacking confidence.
Patterson, who had team-mate Patrick Roberts in front of him, made a complete hash of his attempt to catch Gelhardt’s corner soon after and could only help the ball in – though he did make a strong save to keep another Gelhardt corner from curling straight in minutes later.
The nearest Sunderland came to levelling before the break was when Dan Ballard headed into the arms of Pandur from Chris Rigg’s delivery into the area.
Sunderland should have been level just before the hour when striker Wilson Isidor headed wide at the back post after he had been picked out unmarked by Trai Hume. Eliezer Mayenda and Roberts also had late chances but Hull did enough to stay in front and give their survival chances a lift.
Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris was left frustrated with the outcome and he wants his young squad to learn quickly so they can finish the campaign strongly.
Le Bris, who will be assessing hamstring issues to Enzo Le Fee and Ballard, said: “The own goal changed the dynamic of the game because after that the opponent provided different problems. We tried to break the low block and didn’t find the solution.
“It is a shame because in this kind of game, silly mistakes can change many things. We have to think about these mistakes to improve our game.
“It is not a coincidence (conceding from a set-piece), we have to ask the questions.
“After that the energy of the group was OK. We tried but it wasn’t enough.
“This was the 34th game of the season. We have a small group. That can be a positive, because everyone is really involved, but at the same time, when we have injuries, we know that we can have a bit of a lack of depth in certain positions.
“That is just the characteristic of the squad this year. There are positives and negatives, we just have to try to manage things properly.
“I hope to see a reaction. I hope to have the capacity to react.”
