The Tigers have lost three of their last four in the Championship
The Championship is a tough mistress at the best of times, and that was once again evident on Wednesday night as Hull City slipped to 11th in the league table.
When Enis Destan headed in Ryan Giles’ pinpoint cross to put City back in front at QPR last Saturday, the Tigers shot up from fifth to third for a time, before dropping back down to fifth when they were beaten 3-2.
Fifth became eighth on Tuesday night when they were beaten at home by Ipswich Town, who leapfrogged them in the table and jumped into the top six, and then 24 hours later, with results elsewhere, the Tigers were dumped out of the top 10 altogether.
That’s somewhere they’ve not been for quite a while, such has been their fine form, but three defeats in their last four have taken their toll on their league position, and allowed others to catch them up.
Such is the crazy nature of the Championship, West Brom in 17th are only five points behind Preston North End in sixth, albeit there is a slight gulf in their respective goal differences.
For City, it’s the reality of this league, but it’s also what makes it so open, and fascinating. We’re still early on in the season with only 17 games played, and that should give Sergej Jakirovic hope.
Saturday’s opponents Stoke City had lost their last two games at home to Coventry City and away at Leicester City, before bouncing back with a comfortable 3-0 home win over Charlton Athletic in midweek. That result sent Mark Robins’ men up to second.
Victory for City in the Potteries this weekend could well propel them back into the top six, and with home games against Middlesbrough and Wrexham coming up, they have a big chance to get back into some kind of form before going to another in-form team in Millwall.
Maintaining their impressive run was always going to be tough, especially with the quality of players missing. John Lundstram, Liam Millar, Mo Belloumi and Oli McBurnie have been major losses, and would be felt by any team. City have done well to get as far as they have without those, but they are on their way back.
City, at full strength, are a match for anyone in this league as we’ve seen already, and they can be again once those players are back and then find their rhythm after long spells out.
In many ways, the manner of the defeat at QPR having led twice made Tuesday night’s home loss to the Tractor Boys feel even worse. Had the Tigers got something from Loftus Road, then perhaps the feelings of frustration may have been less pronounced.
Finding a way to stop conceding so many goals would be a fine start. Only Sheffield Wednesday have shipped more than the 29 they have in their 17 games, and that is a real problem. The goals conceded are poor and largely from avoidable errors.
As it is, City must now respond. They’ve done it before when they were beaten by Blackburn Rovers and Bristol City in quick succession, and they must do so again to avoid this slump becoming a greater concern.
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