Just one game remains for the Tigers to salvage their campaign
Mohamed Belloumi reacts to Hull City’s defeat at Charlton Athletic(Image: Sean Troup/Shutterstock)
Make no mistake about it, April has quite comfortably been Hull City‘s worst month of the season, and it may well prove to be the period that cost them a play-off place.
As we look back on the month, perhaps the warning signs were there at Oxford United when City delivered a below-par performance on Good Friday and were forced to settle for a point.
An encouraging performance against Coventry City yielded a point, but a late collapse at Sheffield United following John Lundstram’s sending off signalled the sign of things to come. A fairly low-key draw with Birmingham City followed a 2-2 draw at Leicester City last weekend.
It all ended with Saturday’s fairly dismal 2-1 loss at Charlton Athletic. In recent weeks, City have failed to win at Sheffield Wednesday, West Brom, Oxford, Leicester and Charlton. They’ve collected three points from the 12 on offer against the three relegated clubs, and two who only just survived.
JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! Latest Hull City news and analysis on our Hull Live FB page
It’s no win in six, and just four in 16 for a side who seem to have hit the buffers in spectacular fashion. Their form has fallen off a cliff, and their season looks to have come to a shuddering halt. They’ve led in four of their past six games and have been unable to hold out. All hope of a play-off place feels gone.
There’s a host of reasons why they’ve struggled to claim the couple of wins they needed in the past six games, but for now, the post-mortem must be put on ice.
City have one game left, and they can still claim a top-six place. It means little now, and given where they’ve been, it feels a little churlish to say it, but had you offered most associated with the club this opportunity at the start of the season, given expectations, they’d probably have taken it.
Yes, City have blown a strong position that they’d got themselves into. Yes, everybody is frustrated, disappointed, gutted, angry – insert relevant word here – but there’s still a massive chance ahead, helped by Wrexham losing on Sunday at champions Coventry City.
Sergej Jakirovic’s men have come too far; they’ve given too much to allow this season to just flop. They’ve been brilliant for 85 per cent of this campaign, and that shouldn’t be forgotten amid what’s been a poor month.
Now they just need one final push. They have to go and beat Norwich City, not an easy task given their resurgence and ensure they give themselves the best possible opportunity. Leave nothing to chance, no regrets. Go and deliver one final performance, end the season with three points and see what happens.
Don’t die wondering.
Here at Hull Live, we are dedicated to bringing you the best Hull City coverage and analysis. Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group.
You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe. You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.