Hull City boss Liam Rosenior welcomes selection headache as in-form Tigers target play-offs

Man-of-the-match Cyrus Christie scored the winning goal after 62 minutes to leave visitors Cardiff City just two points clear of the bottom three.

Without a league victory in 2023, the Bluebirds left East Yorkshire frustrated after Callum Robinson’s first-half penalty was brilliantly saved by Matt Ingram.

Hull, though, have been rejuvenated following Rosenior’s arrival and have now lost just once in nine league games, putting them into play-off contention.

They had to work hard against Cardiff as new manager Sabri Lamouchi had his players well organised in their pursuit to leave the MKM Stadium with at least a point.

But once Christie let rip with a precise, left-footed finish, a home win rarely looked in any doubt.

“I want the fans and everyone involved with the club to be excited, but what we need to do is keep improving,” said Rosenior.

“We’ve shown in the last few games that we can win games in different ways.

“We showed a little more belief in the second half but some of our stuff in the first half was outstanding.

“I knew they’d be a real threat, physically, as they’ve got some big boys in the team. But that’s something you have to stand up to and fight against.

“We did that and I’m so proud of them. It also shows the mentality of this group.

“You need to be able to outplay teams and you also need to grind out victories in this league.”

On Ingram, whose position is under threat following the arrival of Karl Darlow, Rosenior said: “He’s been outstanding.

“Penalty saves are always massive moments. You need your mates to bail you out at times and, fortunately for us, Matty has done that with a brilliant save.

“I want players who are here for the team and they are buying into that – you have to earn your place in this team.

“We’ve still got loads to improve on going into a very difficult game against Stoke.

“I’ve got a lot of selection problems that I’m looking forward to.”

New manager Sabri Lamouchi said his Cardiff players needed to show more aggression if they were to move clear of the Championship relegation zone.

“I have a good squad,” he said. “They are very nice guys, but maybe too nice.

“Cardiff must stay in the Championship, so we must find a solution. We need to be more aggressive in the two boxes and change our mentality to the game.

“If we opened the scoring first, it’s a different game – but it’s not enough. We are all disappointed. We can’t accept what’s happened.

“We have to change something because we have three teams behind us. We need to fight and to switch on. And if you want to win, you must score.

“I didn’t think we deserved to lose. We are close but far at the same time.

“Maybe with a goal and a win, the confidence will be back. But, at the moment, we are in a bad moment and in a bad situation."

Hull City: Ingram, Christie, A Jones, McLoughlin, Elder, Tufan (Longman 71), Docherty, Seri, Slater (Coyle 90), Connolly (Greaves 80), Estupinan. Unused substitutes: Figueiredo, Darlow, Woods, Simons.

Cardiff City: Allsop, Ng, Kipre, McGuinness, Simpson (Etete 69), Philogene-Bidace, Sawyers, Wintle, O'Dowda, Ojo (Harris 90), Robinson (Kaba 55). Unused substitutes: Ralls, Alnwick, Rinomhota, Benjamin.

Referee: David Webb (Co Durham).