Hull City chief Grant McCann hails unsung hero Andy Cannon as 'brilliant'

After a bruising start to the season, City - who went into Saturday's Championship game with Boro on the back of a morale-sapping nine-match winless league streak - dug deep and showed real togetherness, character and battling qualities to claim a much-needed 2-0 victory over the Teessiders, thanks to two late goals.

On a day when Hull's commitment and effort, to a man, was excellent, former Portsmouth and Rochdale midfielder Cannon, in just his second league start since joining the club in the summer, embodied that mindset as the Tigers secured their a much-needed home win of the campaign.

McCann, whose side resume after the international break with another game against Yorkshire opposition in the shape of Huddersfield Town on October 16, said: "Andy has been brilliant, outstanding. He has been really patient and there were big performances all over the park.

"I have said it before that we have a lot of young players learning on the job and when I say learning on the job, I mean it is the first time they have played at this level.

"If you look at that team on Saturday, it's probably seven or eight of them playing for the first time in the Championship and they are only going to grow and get better with the more games they play."

Saturday's game saw City register their first home win at Championship level since ironically beating Boro 2-1 in July, 2020.

You have to go back further to Christmas 2019 for the previous occasion that Hull won a home game in the second tier in front of supporters.

City fans have had precious few good days to savour at Championship level in East Yorkshire throughout the club's recent sobering experiences in the division, while also having to watch last season's League One title winning campaign from their homes, with supporters unable to attend matches due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

For McCann, the sight of home followers enjoying a rewarding afternoon for their club in person - amid a decent atmosphere between two traditional East Coast rivals - made victory all the sweeter.

He said: "It was important for them and they stuck with the team and got behind the group. There is nothing like having your fans back in the stadium and Saturday was big for us and for them."