Hull City coach Tim Walter says referee Bobby Madley was 'not well prepared'

The West Yorkshire referee played an unfortunate part in the outcome, getting in Marvin Mehlme's way as a short corner was played to him midway through the second half.

From there Mehlem gave the ball to Dan Neil, Sunderland ran from one penalty area to the other unchallenged, and Wilson Isidor scored the only goal of the game.

It left a bitter taste in Walter's mouth.

"Maybe you can interview the referee, it would be better," he said. "For me it's really frustrating, he apologised but it doesn't help.

"He couldn't whistle, he said."

Walter had an explanation for why the incident happened.

He revealed: "(It's) because he's not well prepared, I said. If you knew how we played the corner kicks and set pieces he would now we play a lot short. He said he was well prepared but unfortunately not because I did it at my former clubs and and we do it all the time.

"If you don't find the right position then in this case maybe you're not well prepared.”

The goal came as Hull were getting a belated foothold in the game, having hit the crossbar through Chris Bedia. Walter admitted his team should have done better once Madley crossed Mehlem’s path.

"Afterwards we can do better,” he acknowledged. “You know the situation normally could be stopped.

"You're really surprised about the situation, maybe that's the reason but for sure we could do better. We could do everything better but sometimes it's not our mistakes.

"We did a lot of mistakes but we did a lot of good. We tried to create a lot of chances but you can't explain every situation and sometimes you have to accept it.”

Hull also felt they should have had a one-man advantage at the end of a first half where Sunderland dominated possession without having many shots.

"For me it was a clear hand, he (Chris Mepham) played the ball back to the keeper with a hand and for me it's a red card,” he said. “He (Madley) saw it a different way.

"We have to accept it but it's a never-ending story."

Hull played more on the front foot in the second half, and Walter says they have to learn to do that more often.

"We tried to be more courageous and defend a bit higher, he explained.

"We put our wingers a bit higher and our No 8s (box-to-box midfielders) to put more pressure on the ball.

"In the first half we had a lot of counter situations and over the whole game we defended really well, no situations that were really critical.

"The balance was not that bad but when we are playing at home we have to show we can play over 90 minutes. I think it's not possible but you can do it for even longer.

"We had 45 minutes, maybe be need 60 minutes. We have to find a balance between playing a bit deeper and defending a bit higher.

"No team can defend for 90 minutes in an attacking style."

Victory sent Sunderland back to the top of the Championship.