Hull manager Mike Phelan hails 'terrific' point after Everton draw
Friday 30 December 2016 22:58, UK
Mike Phelan has hailed Hull's point against Everton as 'terrific' and says he is in the market for new faces in the January transfer window.
The Tigers were twice pegged back by their opponents on Friday Night Football, with Michael Dawson putting the hosts ahead inside six minutes before a bizarre own goal from David Marshall got the Toffees level.
Robert Snodgrass put Hull ahead once again with a sublime free kick in the 65th minute but a late header from Ross Barkley with six minutes of normal time to play saw the points shared at the KCOM Stadium.
But Tigers manager Phelan was pleased with how his side performed as well as grabbing their first goals in three games.
"I think it's a terrific point on the back of defeat and our performances have warranted a little bit more than what we've got in the past," he told Sky Sports.
"But today, we had a good spell when we got ourselves back in the game and possibly could have got it over the line but you would take a point.
"It was a battling performance and I'm pleased with the players. They have come through another tough, difficult game and they have shown terrific spirit.
"It's important [to score] because that's what we've asked them to do. We've been creating opportunities and not taking them but today, we had a few and we took them.
"We hit the crossbar, and we take credit where credit is due. We could maybe have lost it in the end with a chance Everton had but we created something at the other end and could have gone 3-1 up.
"The character has been there all season. At times, it hasn't gone the way we wanted it to go but I think credit to all the players. They're all putting in a shift, training hard, listening and learning. They have got everything to look forward to which is to progress up this league. We have a real battle on our hands but I think we're up for it."
With just two days until the January transfer window opens and plenty of battling to do to stay in the Premier League, Phelan confirmed that he is planning on bringing in new players with early deals on his to-do list.
"We're still looking [for players]. We've been looking for a long, long time. We've probably been looking since August to be fair," he added.
"We all know what market we're in and how difficult it is to buy players in January. We are a club that is trying to progress and we're trying to bring in new members to give us that extra bit of lift and push.
"We lose a few players to the Africa Cup of Nations but we will try and do some business. It's not easy, but we are out there being proactive, it's just getting it done.
"The owner is encouraged with the fact that it's a January window and we can do some business. Whether we spend a lot of money or not is a different kettle of fish but we can use our loans up, we still have some, but we need to do our business quickly."
