Hull City boss Shota Arveladze tells tame Tigers to develop ‘nasty’ streak after coming unstuck at Millwall

Goals from Scott Malone and Tom Bradshaw moved Millwall within a point of sixth-placed Sheffield United, who remain ahead thanks to their 1-1 draw at Britol City.

Malone’s bizarre opener came when Richie Smallwood’s attempted clearance rebounded off his shin and into the net from 20 yards, and Bradshaw quickly doubled the lead with a composed finish.

Tom Eaves pulled a late goal back for Hull who, while safe from relegation in 19th, were told by Arveladze that they are sometimes guilty of playing “too nice.”

“That is football, sometimes you cannot be soft, be nice,” said the Tigers boss.

“You can play nice, but you cannot be nice. We had a positive attitude on making sure we didn’t give up and playing until the last minute, this is all positive, which is great, but we have to keep working on not being too nice.

“Winning the second ball and not letting the ball bounce when the goalkeeper has kicked it. These kind of things have cost us the game.

“It is about the experience. There are boys who catch things quicker, and we can see every week that eventually, it happens.

“Here, when the atmosphere is great with people singing and supporting their team, it is great to see.

“But after the first half, when we kept them out without the ball, the crowd was quiet, but when you give them more possibilities to beat you, they will awaken and then it is tough.

“We were disappointed to concede like that. Of course, it is a tough place to come and play.

“They are chasing the play-offs, but we have not been worse than them.”

Millwall boss Gary Rowett was pleased to see his team’s play-off chances kept very much alive with the three points.

“The nice bit is we have kept the season alive, and that is a testament to the players and their attitude,” said Rowett.

“All we can do is keep trying to win our games and keep trying to put pressure on and pick points up.”

Millwall: Bialkowski, Ballard, Cooper, Murray Wallace, McNamara, Mitchell, Saville, Malone (Hutchinson 63), Burey (Burke 79), Afobe (Leonard 90), Bradshaw. Unused substitutes: Long, Kieftenbeld, Ojo, Evans.

Hull City: Baxter, Jones, McLoughlin, Greaves, Longman, Slater (Eaves 72), Smallwood, Elder (Coyle 86), Honeyman, Lewis-Potter, Sayyadmanesh (Forss 72). Unused substitutes: Ingram, Docherty, Huddlestone, Bernard.

Referee: Dean Whitestone (Northants).