Brown hails Tigers spirit

Geovanni: Earned praise

Related links

Teams

• Hull City

Also see

• Tigers fixtures
• Tigers stats
• Play Fantasy Football

Hull manager Phil Brown heaped praise on his players following the 2-1 victory over Fulham.

The Tigers fell behind in their historic first match in the top tier of English football when Seol Ki-Hyeon headed home for Fulham on eight minutes.

However, Geovanni equalised with a superb strike on 22 minutes and Caleb Folan netted the winner nine minutes from time.

Brown was delighted with the character of his side as they held on for the three points.

"The spirit of the football club was there for everybody to see today," said Brown.

Tremendous character

"The fitness levels in the second half were incredible, as was the passion and the drive. The character was tremendous.

"Before the game we said to the players that Fulham didn't travel too well last season, and we tried to exploit their weaknesses.

"We stuck to a game plan and the substitutions changed the game late on.

"I'm really happy because there weren't many times last season we came from behind to win.

Clean sheet

"Could I have asked for more? I would have liked a clean sheet as those are going to be very important this season."

Brown reserved special credit for Geovanni, who joined on a free transfer from Manchester City in the summer.

"He gives us something that we perhaps didn't have last season - a little bit of quality in the middle.

"He didn't really get a fair crack of the whip at Manchester City last season, and I couldn't believe it when he became available."