Saturday 22 October 2016 19:17, UK
Hull City manager Mike Phelan says his players haven't lost the qualities that saw them win back-to-back games at the start of the season, but feels that they need to "regroup" to build that confidence back up.
The Tigers were on the receiving end of a stunning Xherdan Shaqiri brace in Saturday's 2-0 defeat against Stoke City, but Phelan believes his team's performance was just as responsible for the final scoreline.
"I thought we didn't really pass the ball well enough, we didn't look to get on the ball well enough - we were probably a little bit nervous because of previous results - and it didn't go in our favour now and again," Phelan said.
"We got done by a quality first goal, you know. It's an exceptional strike, an exceptional goal. But the second one for me is extremely disappointing, and should be from the team's point of view. We had many opportunities to deal with it, four or five opportunities to clear the ball, but we didn't deal with it, which results in a free-kick and a quality player scores again. So yeah, it's annoying, disappointing, but we have to look forward.
Hull's initial team selection saw them lack width and any notable attacking threat, but Phelan was forced to mix things up in the second half and may have stumbled across a new tactical shape with a three-at-the-back.
"I think once we went two behind we changed it a little bit to go three at the back, and then we went two up top which gave us a little bit more momentum, but really when you're 2-0 down the game's drifting away from you," Phelan said.
"We need to do more, we know that. We're not here just to like down and let teams beat us, but we have to learn and we have to learn quickly.
"We're in a situation where we've been on the back end of a few defeats. We need to try and get some sort of purpose back in our play, some sort of work ethic that we had in the opening parts of the season. That won't disappear - it's just confidence thing.
"We just need to regroup, rebuild and carry on."
