Manager Mike Phelan has said that last night’s League Cup victory over Bristol City can be a turning point for Hull City given our recent Premier League form.
Travelling to Ashton Gate for last night’s fourth round tie, Hull took a two one victory on the evening with goals coming from Harry Maguire and Michael Dawson and now find themselves in the quarter final draw later this evening.
Speaking to the Hull Daily Mail in his post game press conference, Phelan was pleased to have something to smile about again given result results (and injury news) and he believes the confidence shot the team will take from last night can spark a revival in our league fortunes.
Of course though he knows we need to see that in the Watford fixture this weekend and avoid a sixth straight defeat.
‘Confidence is a big thing and we have been on the end of a couple of hidings. But you have to be resilient. The character has been good and it was important that we came here and showed authority that we were the Premier League team. I have never doubted the commitment of these players. They’ve always responded and trained hard. They are always willing. I am pleased for them because they know how tough this season is going to be. We need everyone to be a collective but it’s nice to see everyone, players and staff, smiling. You’ve got to enjoy the moment.’
He went on to explain.
‘You can see in the dressing room that a win is a win. It means a lot for confidence and we can start again. We know the Premier League is unforgiving at times but we’ve shown we can win football matches again.’
With the hosts getting a goal back late on in stoppage time, Phelan knew it certainly set up a tough last few minutes, but he was pleased with the mental strength shown by the players to see the game out as they threw everything at us.
‘It was a torrid last 10 minutes but it just goes to show against a Championship team that it’s never over until it’s over. In the end it was probably our experience from the Championship that helped us through it. We defended really well. We were in control at 2-0 and it was good for us that we were able to deal with it. We scored two well worked goals and we tried to change things just to get a smile back on everyone’s faces. It has been quite gloomy when you’re getting beat week in and week out.’
