The Tigers assistant boss was on media duties after Sergej Jakirovic’s sending off
Matt Crooks of Hull City runs with the ball while under pressure from Jordan James of Leicester City(Image: Getty Images)
Dean Holden bemoaned Hull City’s inability to keep a lead for the fourth game in their last five, after dropping two more points at Leicester City to be held to a 2-2 draw.
The Tigers led at half-time through Liam Millar’s strike after 18 minutes, in what turned into a toxic atmosphere at the King Power Stadium as the hosts were relegated to League One.
A mad two minutes early in the second half saw the Foxes come from behind to lead 2-1 thanks to a Jordan James penalty and a Luke Thomas strike.
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Sergej Jakirovic was sent off by referee Thomas Kirk as City’s season looked to be unravelling, before Oli McBurnie powered in his 15th Championship goal of the season to level it up and get the Tigers back on terms.
Both sides had chances to win it in a chaotic ending to the game, with John Egan going close in stoppage time, and the hosts hitting the bar.
City’s draw, their fifth game without a victory, coupled with Wrexham’s win at Oxford United, leaves the Tigers outside the top six on goal difference, while the Foxes were dumped into League One amid furious scenes after the game.
“I’ll say it again, I’m completely baffled as to why they’re in the position they’re in when you look at the players that they’ve got, so yeah, we knew it was going be a tough game,” Holden told Hull Live.
“The disappointing thing for us, we’ve got ourselves into a leading position again, I think four games out of five since the break and not able to see it through.
“Message at halftime was to try and get on the front foot, we knew they had nothing to lose, we knew they were going to come at us and take even more risk.
“We concede the penalty, genuinely not seen it back, so can’t really comment, but I believe it’s a debatable one.
“Irrespective of that, can we defend it a little bit better? And more importantly, can we then regroup and see out the next five to 10 minutes, knowing there’s 35 minutes left in the game, so that’s the disappointing thing to concede the second as quickly as we did.
“Then we’re chasing. Scored a brilliant goal through Oli again in that second half, and then we’re giving everything as they are. I’m sure it was an entertaining game because it was end-to-end, it was like a game of basketball at times, but that became dangerous for us because they’ve got such good players in one-vs-one duels.
“Ultimately, we’ve got to take the point, as disappointing as it is, and move forward as quickly as we can.”
Holden wasn’t sure why Jakirovic was given his marching orders, and explained his focus then went on managing the game.
“I didn’t hear what was said to be honest, obviously there’s a lot of it, it’s chaotic at that point,” he said of Jakirovic’s dismissal.
“The fourth (official) or the lino’s (assistant) heard something and reported to the referee. To be honest, I’m not interested. I’ve got to take the lead at that point and control what I can, which is trying to calm the players down on the pitch and get them to refocus, because there’s a lot of chaos. We’ve got to stay in control of what we can affect, which is our performance on the pitch.”
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