City produced their best display under the Croatian to see off last season’s relegated Premier League outfit
Head coach Sergej Jakirovic had called on his Hull City side to improve defensively, and according to Will Still, that’s exactly what his Southampton outfit faced on Saturday in their 3-1 loss.
City had struggled defensively in the early weeks of the season culminating in a 4-2 defeat at Bristol City before the international break when they afforded their hosts a staggering 29 attempts on their goal.
Since then, however, the Tigers have tightened up despite shipping two at Swansea City last weekend, though the Swans scored with their only two efforts on target.
There was a bigger improvement on Saturday, as the Saints struggled to create chances against City. Adam Armstrong’s 95th-minute strike denied the Tigers just a second shut-out of the season, though by that point, the hosts had roared into a deserved 3-0 lead thanks to goals from Kyle Joseph, John Lundstram and in-form marksman Oli McBurnie.
Still acknowledged that Jakirovic’s side were well-organised and defended their box well limiting the promotion favourites to just four attempts on target.
“They were organised and well set up and defended well and made the most of our mistakes and capitalised on what we didn’t do very well and scored for them three good goals,” Still told Hull Live when asked for his assessment on the Tigers. “But it’s just really poor for me, really poor for the team, so it’s not good enough.”
Though his side dominated possession and notched up almost 400 more passes than the Tigers (252 vs 612), it was City who provided a clinical display in a typically fascinting Championship contest.
“Yeah, I totally agree,” he said when asked if that result was a classic example of the Championship’s ruthlessness. “That’s what the Championship does to you if you’re not efficient enough, if you’re not focused enough and don’t kill games off when you are dominating and in control. If you don’t take your opportunities, then you get punished, and we’ve been totally punished.”
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.