Coventry City 0 Hull City 2: Arveladze hopes victory sends ‘good message’ to Tigers fans

Richie Smallwood set the Tigers on their way before Ryan Longman doubled the advantage, thumping home a half volley from inside the box.

The Georgian said: “We know we owe our supporters a good game at home and this performance will give a good message to them to come back and be around us.

“Our home performances are not as good as our away performances but I don’t think it is about the character of the team.

“Probably we have a little bit more pressure at home to dominate more and we need time for that.”

The win opened up a 13-point gap to the bottom three, all but securing Hull’s position in the second tier for a second term following promotion from League One last season.

Arveladze added: “thirteen points clear of bottom three - when you win, it is easy to not look down and not ask what others have done.

“The games get less and if you have a gap, it is to your advantage. Teams have to win three or four games to catch up.

“It was a good game to watch. We only had one day to prepare and we got off to a perfect start.

“We created in the first half and had two or three other chances. In the second half we spent more time defending and did well.”

Coventry under-23s head coach Luke Tisdale bemoaned the Sky Blues’ start to the game after they found themselves a goal behind inside the first five minutes and 2-0 down inside half an hour.

Tisdale took charge of the match after positive Covid tests for manager Mark Robins and assistant Adi Viveash before City’s win over Sheffield United at the weekend, whilst first-team coach Dennis Lawrence and goalkeeping coach Aled Williams also returned positive tests.

The Tigers were ahead with their first attack of the match when George Honeyman’s reverse pass allowed Smallwood to fire his shot straight at Sky Blues stopper Simon Moore, but his effort squirmed under the 31-year-old as Smallwood netted.

Coventry reacted well to going a goal behind and Gustavo Hamer’s cross-come-shot forced Hull keeper Matt Ingram into a full-length dive to prevent the Brazilian’s effort finding the top corner.

Matt Godden saw his effort blocked before Sheaf scooped the rebound over the bar.

Arveladze’s men posed more than a threat on the counter-attack, most notably through Keane Lewis-Potter. The Tigers made it 2-0 as Sean McLoughlin’s knockdown was taken down smartly by Longman who thumped his half volley in off the bar.

Ian Maatsen’s strike at goal before appeared to cross Hull’s line, but referee Thomas Bramall waved play on.

Coventry: Moore, Hyam, Sheaf, Clarke-Salter, Dabo, Allen (Shipley 70), Hamer (Waghorn 79), Maatsen, O’Hare, Godden (Tavares 70), Gyokeres. Unused substitutes: Wilson, Reid, Howley, Bapaga.

Hull: Ingram, Jones, McLoughlin, Greaves, Longman (Elder 80), Slater (Docherty 74), Smallwood, Fleming, Honeyman, Lewis-Potter, Eaves (Sayyadmanesh 86). Unused substitutes: Huddlestone, Bernard, Cartwright, Forss.

Referee: T Bramall (Sheffield).