Tigers boss blames first half display as Hull are beaten by Luton

Reaction from McCann to Kenilworth Road defeat
Amari'i Bell heads clear for the Hatters on SaturdayAmari'i Bell heads clear for the Hatters on Saturday
Amari'i Bell heads clear for the Hatters on Saturday

Hull boss Grant McCann blamed a poor first half performance from his players for their 1-0 defeat at Luton on Saturday.

The Tigers, who lost for the third time in a row, opened up at Kenilworth Road with a clear gameplan in mind, to slow down proceedings and frustrate their opponents.

However, that went out of the window, as Town began on the front foot, Luke Berry hitting the post, before Elijah Adebayo nodded home on 17 minutes.

City did then venture forward slightly, Mallik Wilks with a low shot, while after the break, they at least looked capable of threatening an equaliser, Glen Rea nipping into to clear at the vital moment, while Greg Docherty's late cross flashed across goal.

Speaking afterwards, an under pressure McCann, whose side remained third from bottom, admitted his players didn't heed their pre-match warnings. as he said: "We didn't start well, Luton were better than us in the first half.

"They obviously get their goal and we spoke to the players about you have to start well here, it’s a tight pitch, they’ll press you, they’ll get against you.

"It's a tough place to come and we gave them the upper hand with the goal.

"Then we're in an uphill battle again, trying to come back from 1-0 down away from home when we're not doing particularly well as we can do in terms of a goal front in this present time, but second half we rallied, kept going, penned them in their half but just couldn't get the goal.

"It is belief, it’s confidence, forwards, midfield players, they probably feel the world is on their shoulders at this present time, but we can't do any more in terms of an attacking sense.

"We're putting together some real good passes and plays together and we're getting to the final third with ease against some very good Championship teams.

"We just don’t seem to be finding that killer edge at the moment.

"Ultimately, you don’t win games of football unless you keep clean sheets and score goals. At the minute, we’re struggling to do both.

“In the second half, we had some really good opportunities to score, and we don’t. At the end of the day, I take full responsibility for it.

“I say it every week and it sounds like I’m a broken record.

"People will probably think 'he’s saying the same thing again,' but it’s there to see.

"In the second half, we played really well but we just couldn’t find a goal."