The Boxing Day win over Burnley was swiftly forgotten when Hull crashed to another disappointing away defeat at Preston on Monday.
A reaction to the defeat to Rotherham, suffered heading into Christmas, was something Steve Bruce was looking for and this was what City managed with a three-nil win over promotion rivals Burnley at the KC Stadium last Saturday.
Defensively Bruce was looking for improvement so he was happy on that note also knowing offensively, when Hull click, they’ll pose a threat to anyone as proved to be the case against the Clarets telling the Official Website
‘We’d had all week to prepare for this one and having conceded eight goals in our last five games, we had to improve defensively. We needed to stop the mistakes and we worked all week on a shape and discipline that got us to the top of the league in November. We know we’ve got people who can get us a goal with the likes of Diame, Snodgrass, and Hernandez, so we know that if we can make sure that we don’t give anything away at the back then we’ll always have a chance. That proved to be the key against Burnley.’
Bruce went onto add that it wasn’t ‘a defensive performance by any means’ with him looking to attack Burnley, and all teams, but being the former central defender he was first and foremost he’ll always be looking at ‘being solid at the back’ but overall it was a ‘performance more like us.’
Jake Livermore, Abel Hernandez and Sam Clucas got the goals to see Hull enjoy a great start to the festive period but that was short lived as just a couple of days later yet another away defeat was suffered by City!
A third away defeat on the spin saw those positive thoughts soon disappear with that one-nil loss at Deepdale leaving Bruce admitting his concern to the Official Website at the away form, not that he can ‘put his finger on’ why this is happening.
‘It’s a trait that has crept into the last three or four games where there has been an expectation on us. I really struggle to put my finger on it. To see my team perform the way it did 48 hours earlier to what we saw at Preston was chalk and cheese. We simply didn’t perform to anywhere near the level required against Preston. You accept that you’re going to get beaten away from home every now and again, but the last three or four away from home haven’t been acceptable.’
You’ll accept a defeat if you feel you’ve done all you can but when you question if this was the case and ‘nobody performs’ you have to ask questions as to why this was the case. With Bruce now seeking the answer….
He added the away form needs to improve or this threatens the Hull bid for promotion with the performance itself one that couldn’t have been ‘any worse’ if they tried.
‘We couldn’t have played any worse if we’d tried in that first half against Preston and it’s a huge, huge concern for all of us. It’s something we have to eradicate. If you get beaten in a certain way, with your boots on, then okay you can accept that. But when nobody performs then you have to ask why.
‘We need to perform away from home the way we’re performing at home. If this away form continues, it’s going to derail us. It’s a mentality thing. I’m not going to say that it’s a (mental) weakness because that would be unfair on the big personalities we have in the squad.’
How will things change on Friday against QPR? Bruce finished by saying he’ll look at various ways and means for improvement be that ‘a change of personnel, a change of system away from home, a change of formation.’
Whatever, assuming an answer if found, it’ll all be looked at before the game on Friday.
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