City and Rovers delivered a tepid first half display in the Sunday afternoon rain
Sergej Jakirovic wasn’t happy with what he saw in the first half on Sunday(Image: Alex Dodd – CameraSport via Getty Images)
Amir Hadziahmetovic admits Sergej Jakirovic made his feelings clear at half-time of Hull City’s low-key goalless draw with Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup.
City eventually prevailed on penalties after Dillon Phillips twice saved Rovers’ kicks before David Akintola slotted in the winner to give the Tigers a 4-3 win, after a desperately poor stalemate.
The Tigers, who had named a strong team against a much-changed Rovers side, laboured throughout but were especially poor in the first half, and during the interval, Jakirovic vented his frustration and demanded more from his side.
There was an improvement in the second half, though they still struggled to create chances with Amir slotting in Joel Ndala, who blazed over. Their best came in extra time when Charlie Hughes’ cross was headed towards goal by Oli McBurnie, and from the goalkeeper’s save, Akintola crashed against the bar.
“The most important thing is to win games, and I think this season we’ve done very well in this part, so hopefully we’ll continue like this,” he told Hull Live after City scraped through, before reflecting on the shocks in the competition so far, which included Conference North side Macclesfield dumping out holders Crystal Palace.
“I have witnessed many, many games, where maybe teams from the third and fourth leagues win against teams from the top league. These games are really, really tough. You need to rotate the team a bit. For us, I’m very happy for the team. I think everybody showed good character.
“He (Jakirovic) was really tough, and he criticised a bit (at half-time). I think that we showed a better face in the second half. We tried to go more offensive and try to score a goal. Unfortunately, we didn’t do it, but in the penalties we did it.”
Amir also admitted the MKM Stadium playing surface was a problem, after previous opposition managers raised concerns about its state in recent weeks.
“The pitch is tough; it’s not the best,” he confessed. “It was better than, in my opinion, against Stoke, so I don’t know. It’s really tough to play on, but I think we do a really good job on this kind of pitch.”
Sunday’s win presents City with the first chance to play in the fourth round since 2019/20, and it’s something the Bosnian is relishing when it comes around next month.
“I didn’t know about this information till after the game. It’s good that we could break the curse, and we went on to the next round. We’ll try to do it also next game, to go into the next round. I’m really happy about the win.
“I’m fifty-fifty about this,” he said when asked who he’d like in the draw. “Of course I would like to play against a big team in England, in another stadium, in an away stadium, but also I would like to go through to the next round. Whoever comes, we’ll give our best, and we’ll try to make the best out of it.”
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