Head coach Nigel Adkins was a pleased man on Tuesday evening as Hull City took victory over Ipswich Town to pull the club further away from the dropzone.
Hull headed to Portman Road to face off against Mick McCarthy’s battlers and took a very creditable three nil victory on the evening with goals coming from Markus Henriksen, Harry Wilson and Jarrod Bowen as the three points moved us nine points clear as we registered back to back victories.
Speaking to the Official Site as he spoke with the media following the full time whistle, a clearly delighted gaffer explained.
‘It was an excellent away performance and it backed up an excellent win last weekend. That`s back-to-back victories now. We`ve come away from home, kept a clean sheet and scored three very good goals. We did everything that you have to do to win a game away from home. It was competitive in the early stages and you have to go and earn the right to play.’
Adkins went on to say about the goals in particular.
‘Markus scored a great goal to set us on our way, Jarrod then hits the post and then Ola Aina puts in a great left-footed cross from the right wing for Harry Wilson to score at the far post with a really composed finish. Allan McGregor made a really important save just before that second goal, and then we went and scored a really important third goal just after half time through Jarrod.’
With a clean sheet on the day there was also praise for the defence.
‘We defended really well all night with a good, compact shape. We got the victory that we needed and we did all of the right things. We haven`t won too many games away from home in recent times, so it`s pleasing to get one here.’
Ending his interviews, Adkins wanted this to be a real start for the club when it came to ending the season on a high.
‘To make it back-to-back victories is really pleasing and it`s no more than the players deserve for the hard work they have put in over the last two or three months. We`ll analyse this now, take any lessons that we can from it and move on to get ready for the next game which is at Birmingham on Saturday.’
Ondrej Mazuch and Abel Hernandez were rested against Ipswich and come back into contention for the weekend – there isn’t an injury problem there.
Michael Dawson was briefly in front of the press as well and he hailed a ‘fantastic team performance’ across the 90 minutes.
‘When you come to places like Ipswich on a Tuesday night, it can be tough but we produced a fantastic team performance to pick up what was a big, big win. The pitch wasn’t probably suited to getting the ball down and playing as much as we would’ve liked, but we fought and competed in all areas and won the battle.’
He went on to add.
‘On top of that, we scored three great goals. We started well and got the first goal, which was key, and the second one was a fantastic team goal with the way it started at the back – four or five passes and then it was in the back of the net. And then to get the third goal through Jarrod just after half-time was huge for us. It settled us down because they then had a period in the game, as you expect at this level, where they dominated the ball which they did for 20 minutes or so.’
Like Adkins, he now hopes that this is a real turn in form for the club moving forward to the end of the campaign.
‘As I say, that came as no surprise to us but we maintained a good shape. I thought ‘Hec’ next to me was magnificent. Both full-backs were solid and we had a good shape about us provided by the two boys in front of them. We were solid all over the pitch and it was nice to pick up what was a thoroughly deserved clean sheet on the road. We haven’t had too many of those this season, so to come away with that and what was a big three points – we’re delighted.’
