Hull City once again deliver performance but not the result in defeat to Bristol City

The Tigers could have put a bit of daylight between themselves and the Championship relegation zone with a victory, but a 2-1 defeat drops them back into the bottom-three with just four games left to play.

And, just as was the case during their recent away trips to Birmingham and West Bromwich Albion, Grant McCann’s men played some good football for long periods without being able to capitalise.

Their propensity for gifting away cheap goals was again to prove costly, but it seems almost perverse that Hull’s only win in their last four outings came in the match where they performed least well.

Dogged though they may have been against Middlesbrough last week, they were largely dreadful in possession of the ball and struggled to string more than two meaningful passes together, yet still ended up with maximum points.

If, as the old cliche goes, the sign of a good team is one that can win when not playing well, then where does this leave City?

The short answer is heading for League One, because at this stage of the season, it is results rather than performances that count.

The East Yorkshiremen have looked very good at times during their past three matches on the road and have scored six goals. Sadly for them, they have just a single point to show for their efforts.

The manner in which City fell behind in the West Country summed up their current plight pretty well.

Following a slow start to proceedings, McCann's men seized the ascendancy and appeared to be in full control of proceedings.

James Scott had come close to breaking the deadlock and the visitors continued to look the more likely when Jack Hunt sent a seemingly harmless cross into the away box.

Hull skipper Jordy De Wijs didn't get as much distance as he would have liked on his clearing header and Jamie Paterson was able to play the ball back into danger zone.

De Wijs, at fault for one of West Brom's goals last time out, failed to intercept Paterson's first-time pass, and Famara Diedhiou was left with a routine finish for 1-0 after 41 minutes.

If the Robins' first goal was of the soft variety, their second falls into the unstoppable category.

McCann might feel that the foul on Diedhiou which saw the home team awarded a free-kick 25 yards out was avoidable, but there was nothing that anyone in amber and black could do about the exquisite set-piece strike which followed as Paterson curled the ball past the despairing dive of George Long and into the net via the underside of the cross-bar.

Long had already denied Nakhi Wells with one good save, before he prevented Diedhiou from making it 3-0, and those stops looked as if they might count for something when the Tigers halved the deficit on the hour-mark.

The excellent George Honeyman swung over an inviting inswinging free-kick from the left and De Wijs atoned in part for his earlier error with a glancing header across Daniel Bentley.

Mallik Wilks and Josh Bowler both tested the Bristol custodian in the latter stages as Hull enjoyed enough possession in the final third to have forced an equaliser, however one was not forthcoming.