Relegation-threatened Hull City not feeling sorry for themselves ahead of crunch clash with Millwall
The Tigers have won just once in 16 league matches, a run of form that leaves them staring relegation in the face with only four games remaining in 2019/20.
Grant McCann's team beat Middlesbrough 2-1 in their last home outing, but back-to-back defeats have followed on the road despite the City players producing two decent performances.
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Hide AdTheir defensive frailties have ensured that they finished up empty-handed at both West Bromwich Albion and Bristol City, and although his charges could be forgiven for wondering what might have been, McCann insists that nobody in his squad is getting too down on themselves.
"The mood is good, the boys are in a good place," he said.
"Obviously, we're disappointed coming away from Bristol with nothing having played so well - I thought the performance was good - but we moved on quickly.
"The belief in the camp is that we know that if we do the best we can, we can stay in this division. We know what we've got to do now, so we've got to keep that belief strong.
"The boys are fighting, I think you've seen that in all the games that we've played. Yes, individual mistakes or individual errors have cost us goals, but also we're looking a threat at the other end of the pitch."
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Hide AdWhile City have undoubtedly looked more potent going forwards in recent weeks, it is their propensity for giving away soft goals that threatens to send them tumbling into League One.
In order to survive, the Tigers need to turn good spells of football into more complete 90-minute performances. And, of course, tighten up at the back.
Asked about how he gets the balance right, McCann replied: "That's what everyone is striving to do, especially down the bottom end of the league, but ultimately, we've got to keep the ball out of our net more.
"We're conceding a lot of goals over this period, but also scoring a lot of goals.
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Hide Ad"We need to be better at the back, in midfield, the forwards. We always say we defend as a team, there's never any pointing fingers or blaming anybody because they're human beings and they're gonna make mistakes and it's how you react from them and learn from them, and that's what we're trying to do.
"It's just mistakes. Mistakes have cost us at vital times in games."
City head into Saturday's showdown with Millwall 22nd in the Championship, currently just a single point from safety.
The Lions sit 11th and will still harbour hopes of bridging the five-point gap between themselves and the last play-off spot.
Kick-off at the KCOM Stadium is at 3pm.
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