City can make it three games unbeaten with a positive result at St Andrew’s
Cody Drameh has called on Hull City to find the level of consistency that’s needed if the Tigers are to prove the doubters wrong and challenge towards the top end of the Championship.
City‘s 1-0 win over Sheffield United before the international break was their third home success in their first five outings at the MKM Stadium, and now, attention turns to that elusive away victory.
Sergej Jakirovic’s side have not yet won away from the MKM Stadium, having thrown away leads at Wrexham in the Carabao Cup and then at Watford in their last road trip.
Draws at Coventry City and Swansea City have been respectable, but the challenge now for the Tigers is to get that first win, and if they can manage that at Birmingham City this weekend, they’ll not only end the Blues’ 29-game unbeaten home run, but also claim successive victories for the first time in more than 12 months.
“Exactly that, I think it’s just finding the consistency,” Drameh told Hull Live when asked about the need to back up the Blades’ win. “We want to be at the top end of the table when you’ve got to do that, so yeah, you just got to try and iron out some of the teething problems, smooth it over and then hopefully everything will be all positive.”
While there has been much to like about the Tigers so far this term, defensively, they’ve been a mess, at times. Only crisis-club Sheffield Wednesday have shipped more than the 16 they have, but the clean sheet gained against the Blades was their first since the opening day and helped boost confidence.
“It was big for us, I think,” Drameh confessed. “You know what? John Egan had been pushing that for us quite a lot, as the back line. We’re defenders, so the first thing you want to do is stop our men, get clean sheets, win headers, be aggressive, be aggressive in the duels as well. For us to get the clean sheet and defend really well against Sheffield United was very big for the defensive unit.”
Ivor Pandur, by his own admission, had endured a tough start to the season, but his 87th-minute penalty save to preserve those three points last time out will be big for the Croatian, Drameh says.
“Ivor’s a great goalkeeper. We’re all humans as well, and we go through ups and downs in form. I don’t think he’s been too bad. I think he’s been very, very good. I think the penalty save was massive for him, and hopefully, he can push on and be the keeper we know he can be.”
The 23-year-old will make his first return to St Andrew’s after leaving the Blues following a loan spell in the 2023/24 campaign, which ultimately ended in their relegation to League One, but he says all the focus from the Tigers will be on doing things right and imposing their game plan on the hosts.
“Absolutely, yes, it’s a difficult place to go, and there’s a lot of difficult places to go in the Championship; that’s just another one of them. We’ll look to impose our game plan on them, and then hopefully come away with a positive result.”
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