Faye left scenting promotion double 
at Tigers

So, who better to assess Hull City’s burgeoning promotion challenge as the Yorkshire club head into 2013 sitting second in the Championship table?

“I think we have a very good chance of going up,” insists the 34-year-old who last season helped the Hammers win an instant return to the Premier League.

“Of course, the Championship is not easy and there is still a long way to go. But we played very well against Leeds and if we keep playing like that, we might be able to go up in either first or second place.

“We have a real confidence about the rest of the season. I feel we are playing Premier League football at the moment.”

As 2011 drew to a close, Faye and West Ham were third in the table with 44 points – one behind Cardiff City and three adrift of leaders Southampton.

Before long, the Hammers, who had started the campaign as the bookies’ overwhelming favourites to go up, had moved into the automatic promotion slots only for a damaging run of six draws in seven home games during the Spring to eventually see Sam Allardyce’s side pipped to a place in the top two by Reading and the Saints.

Salvation came via the play-offs, however, as a 2-1 win over Blackpool in the Wembley final ensured Faye’s only season in the East End finished on a high.

A move to Yorkshire followed last summer and while Hull were considered by the bookmakers to be mid-table material, the first five months of the season have seen Steve Bruce’s men emerge as the surprise package of the division.

Faye, with four goals in 20 league appearances, has played his part and now the former Senegal international is looking forward with excitement to the new year.

He added: “I really enjoyed the Leeds game with the clean sheet and a good performance. The stadium was full and it was close to a perfect performance.

“It is different here to West Ham. At Hull, we have very young players whereas at West Ham they had Premier League players who cost a lot of money.

“It is hard with that pressure of 35,000 people at every home game. We don’t have the same pressure here and we like it. I believe this team can do well in the second half of the season.”

Faye’s confidence about the new year is understandable considering the manner in which Hull ripped apart Leeds in one of the most one-sided contests the 
KC Stadium has seen.

Neil Warnock’s side simply had no answer to the marauding hosts, who, with even a semblance of ruthlessness when it came to finishing, could have won by a five or six-goal margin.

Hull were, in fact, so dominant that the only save Eldin Jakupvic had to make was when keeping out a low drive from Luke Varney that had come three or four seconds after play had been halted for an offside flag.

While the 3,500 fans who had made the trip from Leeds may have spent the return journey back along the M62 debating where it had all gone wrong, the simple truth was Hull were just too good.

From the energy and tenacity of Corry Evans, David Meyler and Stephen Quinn in the centre of the field through to the pace and power out wide provided by Ahmed Elmohamady and Robbie Brady, Hull won every single midfield battle.

That dominance extended to defence and attack, too, with Sone Aluko bordering on unplayable and the Hull backline so dominant that Ross McCormack, Davide Somma and substitute Varney barely got a kick.

In fact, the only criticism that could be levelled at Bruce’s men is that it took them until the 55th minute to put the game beyond United.

Certainly, the visitors could not have complained had they gone in two or three goals down at the break. Hull’s familiar failing of not taking their chances when on top was to blame with Robert Koren’s poorly-directed lob in the fourth minute after Alan Tate’s back header had been woefully under-hit, setting the tone.

Meyler, for instance, was guilty of fluffing a simple chance following great work by Aluko and Brady, and Faye headed into the side-netting when it seemed easier to score.

Brady also shot wastefully wide from close range before the first half ended with Koren coming agonisingly close to converting another sublime cross from the rampant Elmohamady.

The response from Leeds chief Warnock, who had tried to match Hull’s 3-5-2 formation, was to haul off the ineffective Somma at half-time but it did little good come the restart as Meyler twice went close in the early exchanges.

Hull finally made the breakthrough on 52 minutes when an intelligent pass from Robert Koren released Evans, who coolly drilled a shot across Paddy Kenny and into the net.

Three minutes later, Hull doubled their advantage courtesy of a bullet header by Meyler from Brady’s corner to ensure 2012 ended on a high for Bruce’s men and a chastening low for the visitors.

Warnock said: “Hull gave us a lesson but there aren’t many teams like Hull in the division. They are well organised and they have been doing this for a while now.

“The KC Stadium is not an easy place to come and you can see why Hull are where they are.

“What we have to do now, though, is forget about Hull. Yes, it was disappointing, but we have won five out of eight games and need to get straight at Bolton on New Year’s Day.”

Counterpart Bruce said: “I honestly couldn’t pick a man of the match. We had seven or eight, at least, who were really playing at the top of their game.”

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