Hull City v Millwall: Liam Rosenior craving balance as Tigers go from one extreme to the other

All the talk after the 0-0 draw with Rotherham United was about turning possession into goals; Hull had kept nine clean sheets in Rosenior's 21 league matches, but drawn 10 games, putting them last of the teams not involved in the relegation battle.

In a remarkable Good Friday match at Sunderland they scored four but it still meant another draw, shipping as many at the other end. Had Ozan Tufan not converted his penalty with the last kick, they would have lost.

It showed Rosenior what a frustrating job coaching can be.

“The hardest thing as a coach is finding a balance between being offensive and making sure you keep the back door shut," said the former defender. "We’re not there yet but we’ll get there.

“I have to give the players credit because they are learning something new. For Alfie Jones, Karl Darlow and Sean McLoughlin in particular, to be brave enough away from home in front of 40,000 people to take the ball and play, I can’t give them enough credit.

“It’s a process. You saw for long spells what I want consistently in the future, but Friday’s game encapsulated our season that we shoot ourselves in the foot.”

Hull will check on captain Lewie Coyle and centre-forward Oscar Estupinan.

Coyle picked up a rib injury at the Stadium of Light and Estupinan has missed the last two matches with an ongoing ankle problem. With Benjamin Tetteh and Aaron Connolly out too, it has left Hull without a recognised centre-forward.

"Oscar's been running but I don't have a timeframe on it, which is frustrating for us," said Rosenior. "We need to make sure he's one hundred percent."