Hull City 1 West Bromwich Albion 1: No separating play-off hopefuls in cagey tactical battle

The Tigers' winning streak came to a halt at three but they have now lost just one of their last seven. Coming to firm conclusions was not easy.

Hull hit the woodwork once and their visitors twice in a 1-1 draw but in truth this was far from a fireworks display of a game as two clever tacticians struggled to get the better of one another from the two technical areas.

Liam Rosenior's Hull had more of the ball, Carlos Corberan's Baggies more of the shots; the visitors had the better of the first half, the hosts the second.

In truth it was hard to separate two sides who remain a point apart in the table as the tight race for the Championship's final two play-off places got no clearer.

The first half was Hull in a nutshell, scoring with a piece of brilliance, conceding with a moment of set-piece doziness. Another slip by Regan Slater in the 83rd minute could have cost them, but there was to be no splitting these sides.

West Brom had been getting the upper hand tactically when Hull released Anass Zaroury for a deflected cross and the corner was worked short for Fabio Carvalho to lash in a 35th-minute opener.

It looked like the Tigers would be going in 1-0 up at half-time only for Tyler Morton's over-ambitious pass to the vacant left-back spot to allow the visitors to pen them in with consecutive corners. A stretching Darnell Furlong was able to loop a header from the second agonisingly inside the far post.

The goals apart, Hull had more of the ball in the first half but West Brom seemed to be able to control how it was used.

The opening 15 minutes were just about moving pieces around the board, diagonal runs inside by Zaroury and his fellow winger Jaden Philogene rarely spotted or at least used.

The game banged into life with two chances each for Philogene and Tom Fellows, the Baggies winger dragging his shots wide – the first after putting Alfie Jones on his backside – and Philogene's blocked.

Jed Wallace diverted a cross against a Hull post, Mikey Johnston forcing Ryan Allsop into a good save from the follow-up.

Increasingly, though, Philogene was forced back into the right-back position, Lewie Coyle coming inside to deal with "winger" Fellows and one of the Championship's best attackers forced deeper by former Hull man Conor Townsend getting forward from left-back.

The second half was every bit as cagey, but it was Hull who had the better of it.

Jean Michael Seri's scooped effort had to be touched over the bar by Alex Palmer when a 52nd-minute free-kick was worked to him, but it would be a rare chance.

Philogene's lacked power when he tried to round off a move started by Jacob Greaves stepping out of defence to win the ball, and the same was true of Jed Wallace's, put under pressure by the centre-back when he was played through.

Rosenior helped matters by finally giving his side the outlet of a centre-forward in the 63rd minute but Cedric Kipre tackled him as he chased a ball over the top, and a header was put wide.

Both teams hit the woodwork in a matter of minutes, Philogene after a patient passing move, former Sheffield Wednesday winger Adam Reach when substitute Slater's sloppiness gave the ball away.

West Brom's Andrea Weimann tried a clever chip when played through in the 90th minute and quickly wished he had not.

It was that sort of game.

Hull City: Allsop; Coyle, Jones, Greaves, Giles; Philogene, Morton, Seri (Slater 78), Zaroury (Tufan 78); Carvalho, Omur (Connolly 63)

Unused substitutes: McLoughlin, Docherty, Traore, Sharp, Jacob, Pandur.

West Bromwich Albion: Palmer; Furlong, Kipre, Pieters (Ajayi 84), Townsend; Yokuslu, Mowatt; Johnston (Chalobah 84), Diangana (Swift 68), Fellows (Reach 63); J Wallace (Weimann 68).

Unused substitutes: Bartley, Marshall, Avila, Griffiths.

Referee: S Martin (Staffordshire).