Charlton Athletic v Hull City: Tigers' Championship play-off chances are in their heads now

The Tigers should never have been in a position where finishing seventh or even eighth was anything other than cause for celebration. They defied two windows of transfer restrictions to turn a team which only stayed up on goal difference last season into genuine contenders, helped by 15 goals from Oli McBurnie, subject of their Cranberries-inspired song.

But to quote another lyric, this time from James, "If I hadn't seen such riches, I could live with being poor."

Until Tuesday's 2-2 at Leicester City , Hull had been in the top six for 22 of the previous 23 matchdays. Until this month, they had not gone more than three games without a win, now it is five. Where once their Championship nous had them punching above their weight, the opposite seems true.

In the east Midlands they were wasteful in front of goal and all over the shop defensively in the second half. It is not a great combination, and cost them their top-six place with just two games to play.

They have led in four of those five matches – has their inability to hold a lead got in their head?

"I don't think so," insists Liam Millar. "Honestly, I don't think so.

"I feel like you just go through spells in the season where sometimes things just don't go for you.

"Myself included, we need to be a little bit more clinical in the final third, take the good opportunities we have and this won't be an issue.

"It's just one of those times during the season where it's happening to us. We're going to do everything we can to make sure it doesn't continue."

But there are issues to address.

"It always comes down to the way that we defend as a team," says former Charlton manager Dean Holden, who may not be in charge on the touchline after all, with Sergej Jakirovic's defence against his midweek red card likely to be considered in the final week of the season.

"We're a team that get through the pitch quickly, that can spring defence into attack.

"We demand a lot from our midfielders, from our full-backs to get forward, and without the ball we put just as many responsibilities on the forward players.

"Ultimately, we need to stop conceding as many crosses as we are into our box. We need to try and stop it at source a bit better, and the box defending's got to improve.

"We've conceded too many goals this season (only Queens Park Rangers and the bottom two have let more in). I can pretty much reel off… not every one of them, but most of them, what went wrong in the build-up. There's not a common theme.

"We kept two clean sheets against the team that’s scored the most goals in the league – Coventry – but in other moments we've conceded too many.

"It's a group that want to keep improving, and we know we've got it all on at the weekend against a team who will put it on top of us, who will be direct, who will ask us to defend. So, we've got to be ready for it."

But the Championship is by its very nature a roller-coaster. With Wrexham not playing until Sunday, an away win at The Valley in Saturday's 12.30pm kick-off will put them under pressure for their blockbuster game at Coventry City. Middlesbrough at home in the final week of the season is no cakewalk either.

"We've got to make sure we win the game so we can continue to put that pressure on them," says Millar.

But he does not think going from hunted to hunters will change anything mentally for the Tigers.

"I think the whole season we always had this mindset that there's nothing to lose for us," he argues.

"I think everyone had us being close to the relegation zone.

"I've always believed in our team, especially after the signings we made in the summer, that we would always be where we are now.

"But not everyone believed that. So there's no pressure on us. We're just trying to do everything to the best of our ability."

At Charlton, and at home to Norwich City, Hull just need to refocus.

"We know what we've got to do," says winger Millar. "We've got to put on our best performance and do everything we can to get three points.

"I guess it's more or less between us and Wrexham now.

"We've just got to focus on how well we've done this season, how well the group has done.

"We've had a lot of injuries. For all the circumstances we had this season, we've done really well.

"We can take a little bit of a step back and look at that and take that as a positive.

"But all of us are very competitive. We all want to be in the play-offs, we want to go up to the Premier League.

"We're happy with how we've gone, but none of us are satisfied with what we have."

The key to it all is in their heads.