Pearson frustrated as Bristol City draw with Hull

Bristol City boss Nigel Pearson watched Nakhi Wells score his first EFL goal since February – and then admitted he was unsure why he had not ended up with a brace during a 1-1 draw at Hull.

Wells levelled the scores just past the hour mark but earlier had been denied by a very delayed flag in first-half stoppage time, after Jason Knight’s deflected drive had fallen to him six yards from goal.

The Tigers had earlier forged in front courtesy of Ozan Tufan’s fourth goal of the season but a confused Pearson said: “From what we were told about the offside rule in pre-season to what I am seeing now during the season, there’s a bit of confusion and we need some clarification about what constitutes a deflection to somebody in an offside position.

“People in football were not asked their opinion about it and I’d just say offside is offside and that the assistant should put the flag up straight away, but that won’t happen.”

Pearson was happier with his players’ overall efforts, arguing that the same character is now needed in home matches and that Hull only ended up with a share of the spoils due to some heroic, last-ditch defending.

“Apart from 10 to 15 minutes in the first half when we didn’t get it right in terms of how we pressed, I thought we played very well and created lots of chances,” he claimed. “I saw bravery out there with players wanting the ball and doing positive things on the pitch.

“We need to see that character in home games now because people talk about coaching and training, but the most important day in the week is match day.

“Sometimes though, away from home, it’s more straightforward to go with a gameplan that’s not about entertaining and we were conceding more ground, but it was like springing a trap and we are very good at that. They also defended their goal with a lot of commitment and but for that, I think we would have won comfortably.”

Hull boss Liam Rosenior admitted his team did have their backs to the wall more than he would normally like.

“When you go a goal up at home and don’t get three points, you have to view it as two dropped,” he reasoned.

“I thought the first 25 minutes was exactly what I wanted. Then we were trying to score with every attack and it became a bit of a basketball match, which suited Bristol City.

“I think if we had carried on playing the way we were and keeping possession, we would have exhausted Bristol City of their oxygen.

“But I also have great respect for Nigel Pearson’s teams. They were winning the ball back and played with four up front and two full-backs high up the pitch, so they were playing really offensive football as well.

“I was delighted with how we were putting bodies on the line and defending long throws, but it was happening too often. We then regained control after they scored and I felt that we could have won the game, but we could have easily lost it as well because it was really open.”

Explaining his decision to substitute the Championship’s early-season top scorer Tufan, Rosenior added: “Ozan has been magnificent for us, but he has an issue away from football that I can’t go into and I thought he was mentally exhausted.”