Hull’s interim boss Andy Dawson says everyone at the club is feeling “pain” after their dismal run of defeats stretched to five games with a 3-1 loss at Middlesbrough.
Dawson was taking charge of the Tigers for the first time after Tim Walter’s dismissal in midweek but could not prevent City from slumping to another loss, with Tommy Conway hitting a double and the in-form Finn Azaz also on target for Boro.
Hull are now winless in 10 games in the Championship and, after last season’s seventh-place finish, are in the relegation zone.
“It’s difficult because emotion always run deep when you’re on the run that we’re on,” said Dawson.
“We’ve lost another game. I feel the pain and all the staff do, we’re feeling it, of course we are.
“When I take myself away from the disappointment and ask did they do what we asked of them? Yes, they did.
“I have to give credit to Middlesbrough, they’re a very good team who can hurt you and score goals. But there is lots of work to do, absolutely. We have to go again.”
Azaz put Boro in front with his fifth goal in three games on 24 minutes before Conway doubled the home side’s advantage four minutes before the break.
Hull substitute Mason Burstow halved the deficit with his first goal for the club just two minutes after coming on 19 minutes from time, but Conway sealed a deserved Boro win eight minutes later.
Dawson said: “You’re never pleased with a defeat but they kept going until the end. We conceded two poor goals, especially the first one, but at 2-0 down at half-time the message was, ‘What are you going to do?’ And they kept working incredibly hard and scored a really good goal.
“I honestly though at 2-1 we were going to get back in the game, but against a good team and good players there are little moments when you have to be so clinical.”
Boro quickly got back on track after their midweek home defeat to Blackburn and have now won four of their last five games.
Head coach Michael Carrick said: “Today was a tough game, and we expected it to be that way. The type of team they are, the quality they’ve got and the way they play.
“The change in manager can go in different ways and adds an element of uncertainty as well, so I expected we’d have to really work for it. Those type of games can become quite hard because you’re chasing it and they have the quality to keep the ball off you.
“It can be a tough afternoon. But the boys stuck at it because it wasn’t easy to have an exact plan for it and we had to focus more on just what we could do in terms of our shape and distances and the feeling between each other.
“The boys stuck at it and did the good things to get the result. It was a tricky game but one we came through really well. We did a lot of things well – pressed well, scored good goals and probably could and should have scored more. All in all, it was good to bounce back from what will hopefully now prove just a blip in midweek.”
