Hull City 1-2 Stoke City: FLW report as Mark Robins records first league win in charge of Potters | OneFootball

FLW report live from the MKM Stadium

Mark Robins picked up his first Championship success in charge of Stoke City with a 2-1 success at the MKM Stadium against Hull City.

Despite falling behind in this crucial encounter between two relegation-threatened sides through Eliot Matazo's first goal for the Tigers on six minutes, goals from Ali Al-Hamadi and Andrew Moran turned the tide and secured a vital three points for the Staffordshire outfit.

Hull's home struggles have been well-documented for quite some time, and today's latest defeat exemplified their frailties in HU3, failing to back up last Friday's emphatic 3-0 success over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.

Stoke City come from behind to defeat Hull City 2-1

This six-pointer began with two half-chances for Bae Junho after Stoke found pockets of space down the flanks, but it would be the Tigers who struck first on six minutes thanks to a well-worked corner after Regan Slater's low drive was initially turned behind.

Matazo and Abu Kamara opted for the short corner and found Steven Alzate in acres of space, with the Colombian's lifted delivery flicked on by Sean McLoughlin in order for the Belgian midfielder to burst into the box unmarked to tap home past Viktor Johansson from a tight angle.

Straight from the restart, Abu Kamara then tried a curling effort which the Icelandic keeper was equal to, before the visitors saw Michael Rose nod wide after being gifted a cheap corner by the Hull rearguard.

After 20 minutes, Alfie Jones sent a sublime ball over the top in search of Joao Pedro, with the Brazilian then having the presence of mind to spot Matazo dashing through the middle, before the Stoke captain got down well to deny the former AS Monaco man further delight.

Seconds later, Kamara got the better of Enda Stevens and spotted the experienced Pedro in space, with Robins' side once again grateful for Johansson's services as he thwarted the 32-year-old from yards out.

After withstanding such pressure, Stoke looked for a response, although debutant Ali Al-Hamadi's weak header from a curling Lynden Gooch delivery wasn't enough to concern Ivor Pandur.

With 10 minutes to go before the break, Selles' men went in search of a second after a spell of heavy possession from the away side as Matazo fed Joe Gelhardt down the left, but the Leeds loanee found substitute Junior Tchamadeu in the way of his goal-bound strike.

After a swift break, neat footwork from Josh Wilson-Esbrand sold Cody Drameh on two occassions and paved the way for another golden chance which Junho spurned wide, despite being gifted the freedom of the 18-yard box to pick his spot.

However, the Potters would draw themselves level on the stroke of half-time, courtesy of Ipswich loanee Al-Hamadi.

Hull failed to clear their lines properly after dealing with an initial corner, and Seko's deep ball in evaded all inside the box and found the Iraqi international completely unmarked at the back post to slam a fizzing effort past Pandur from five yards out.

Just three minutes into the second period, Hull saw a penalty appeal on Gelhardt waved away by Will Finnie, before Selles' defence were indebted to full-back Drameh, whose goal-line clearance denied Wilson-Esbrand from completing a swift turnaround on the scoreboard after Al-Hamadi nipped past Matty Jacob.

In an all-action opening 10 minutes, Johansson was then at full stretch to deny Pedro his sixth of the season after being teed up by Kamara on the edge of the box, with Matazo then seeing a hopeful effort fly just over the bar.

Alzate was the next to try his luck from distance as his effort rose just over the top, before City supporters were given their first sighting of Aston Villa loanee Louie Barry, as Selles introduced the winger alongside Kyle Joseph and Lewie Coyle on 55 minutes.

His first action saw a teasing delivery intended for Matazo which was put behind for a corner by Stevens, which Hull were able to recycle smartly, although McLoughlin would see a powerful header pushed over by the Stoke keeper.

With half of the second 45 gone, a piece of quick thinking from Regan Slater almost presented Joseph with the chance to net his first goal in Black and Amber on his home debut, but Johansson's quick reactions to a teasing cross sniffed out any pending danger.

However, with just over 15 minutes to go, it would be the travelling contingent from Staffordshire who were sent into ecstasy through substitute Andrew Moran.

Pandur was able to tip a goal-bound header from Nathan Lowe around the post, but the Tigers' frailties from balls into the box were laid bare once again, as Stevens' ball in was met by Liverpool loanee Lewis Koumas, who found the Irishman in space with the simple task of firing past Pandur from the centre of the box.

With time running out, Koumas had the chance to add further gloss on proceedings for Robins' men after a sublime first-time pass from Seko sent him free down the left, but good feet from Pandur denied the 19-year-old, who looked to fire an effort across goal.

Hull's second half fortunes would be summed up as the clock ticked past 89 minutes as Slater had all the time in the world to pick out Matt Crooks who could only fire at bodies, before heroics from Johansson and his rearguard would also thwart Alzate and McLoughlin as five minutes were added.

The final action saw Barry fire a curling effort into the side netting on 94 minutes, despite many among the home quarters of the MKM thinking he'd scored a dramatic equaliser as the net rippled.

Will Finnie then called time on a result which sees Stoke pull five points clear of Derby County who occupy the final relegation place, whilst Hull have dropped back into 21st after an eighth defeat on home turf this campaign.

Player Ratings

Hull City

Ivor Pandur - 5.5

Cody Drameh - 7 (Coyle 55" - 6.5)

Alfie Jones - 6.5

Sean McLoughlin - 7

Matty Jacob - 6

Regan Slater - 6

Steven Alzate - 7

Eliot Matazo - 8 (Crooks 71" - 6)

Abu Kamara - 7 (Barry 55" - 6.5)

Joe Gelhardt - 6.5 (Amrabat 82" - 6)

Joao Pedro - 7 (Joseph 55" - 6)

Stoke City

Viktor Johansson - 8

Lynden Gooch - 6.5 (Tchamadeu" 30 - 6.5)

Ashley Phillips - 6.5

Michael Rose - 7

Enda Stevens - 7.5

Josh Wilson-Esbrand - 7 (Koumas 60" - 7)

Wouter Burger - 6.5 (Tezgel 84" - 6)

Tatsuki Seko - 7

Bae Junho - 8

Nathan Lowe - 7

Ali Al-Hamadi - 7.5 (Moran 60" - 7.5)

Ruben Selles reacts as Hull City suffer another home defeat

After suffering further home woes, Selles began his post-match press conference by stating :"It looks like we are repeating the same (result).

"My thoughts from the game are that we started in control, being the team that wanted to dominate and create chances. We scored the first goal, we controlled the first 42 minutes of the game and created enough situations to score a second goal."

The Spaniard wasn't overly critical of his side's performance, but admits there were certain situations which saw the pendulum swing in the opposite direction after dominating the early exchanges.

"We conceded a goal from one isolated action, then started the second half not as well as the first, but we were still in control, creating situations but concede another goal from a set-piece," Selles added.

"We have been pretty good in defending those situations, and we were never able to equalise.

"We did a lot of good things in the game, more than enough to get at least one point."

Selles then went on to state that the way the game unfolded is a prime example of what can happen in the second tier, even against sides who have also been struggling for consistency like Hull.

"I think that's the Championship," said the Spaniard.

"That's the competition, you need to be ruthless. When you are in those situations, you need to go to the final bit, and it's not that we didn't want to, but we need to invest extra time and an extra one percent to make it count."

Selles then went on to analyse the two pivotal moments from Al-Hamadi and Moran which came from similar scenarios, which is that the goals were entirely preventable from a Tigers point of view, regardless of the quality of finishing.

"Absolutely (the goals were avoidable)," Selles continued.

"It can look like they have switched off. I don't think they have switched off, I think we need to adjust situations from the first and second goal, because we didn't make those mistakes for the rest of the game.

"Those are the situations we need to continue working on and are the situations that are stopping us from winning football matches."

Mark Robins' verdict on his first Championship win in charge of Stoke City

Despite picking up a first success in the league for his new club and just a third away win on the road in 15 games, Robins was still left frustrated by how his side began proceedings.

"It's a great result in the end," Robins began. "We didn't get started the way I wanted us to.

"Where we're at at the moment, I think we are in a situation where we've not won games, so there's a situation where there's a lack of confidence or belief, and we didn't get going until after they'd scored, which is too late.

"I think, honestly, with a bit of belief, and that result will give us a bit of it, it means they can go out and play like they can and show what they can do.

"It's just a moment where they're waiting for someone to take the handbrake off, free themselves up and go and play in a way that I know they can do, because I've seen it.

"It's not just me guessing things, they can do it because I've seen it in training and in parts of games, but it took us too long to get going."

After taking charge of his first six encounters in all competitions, the former Coventry boss is more than aware that there is plenty of work for him and his players to do, even beyond the final two days of the winter transfer window.

"They've changed (Hull) hugely in terms of the numbers of players they've got and their availability, and we're still in a position where we're trying to amend and get people into positions where I think they can make a big difference on the pitch," Robins added.

"That's where we are. I'm delighted with the three points and that should give them a boost and that belief. But, again, let the handbrake off."

Attendance at Hull City 1-2 Stoke City

This afternoon's attendance at the MKM Stadium was 21,709.