Tigers lament Pearson absence

Shakespeare: Missed manager Pearson

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Hull City assistant boss Craig Shakespeare admits he missed the presence of manager Nigel Pearson during the Tigers' defeat to Doncaster.

Pearson was admitted to hospital on Friday night after complaining of chest pains, leaving Shakespeare in charge of Hull for their 3-1 Championship loss on Saturday afternoon.

Goals from Martin Woods, Billy Sharp and James Coppinger sealed the Rovers' win, with Nick Barmby scoring for the visitors.

And Shakespeare admits Pearson was sorely missed during the defeat.

"It was hard to be without him," said Shakespeare. "Obviously he will be disappointed and as gutted at the result as the rest of us.

"We miss him because he is a leader and there is an aura about him. But obviously his health comes first."

Shakespeare says Pearson is expected to return to work on Monday, adding: "I spoke to him on the phone before the match and we are hoping he will be discharged from hospital tonight or in the morning and be back with us in training on Monday."

Shakespeare was disappointed to see his team concede a goal so early in the match as Woods slotted home a second-minute strike.

"We spoke about being solid in the first 20 minutes of the game but then we concede a sloppy goal right at the start," he said.

"We knew it was going to be tough in the Championship and we need to improve and be more resilient all round.

"But words are cheap and we need to take responsibility individually and collectively if we are going to get better."

Delighted

Rovers manager Sean O'Driscoll was delighted to see his side bounce back from their 4-0 thrashing at Cardiff last weekend.

"We played well in the first half against Cardiff last week but ended up losing 4-0 because we couldn't defend," said O'Driscoll.

"We didn't pass the ball as well today but we defended much better and we looked organised as a team.

"Without that you haven't got a chance in this league.

"I don't think anyone is going to run away with it in this division and if we want to do well ourselves we have to stick with the things that have helped to keep us in the Championship for the last two seasons.

"But there's more than one way to get a result. Sometimes you don't always achieve it with pretty football and we've learned that as well.

"We got a lot of balls in the box today and managed to keep the amount of chances they had to a minimum.

"I thought we were worthy of the points."