Hull City 1 Plymouth Argyle 0 - Maximum appeal for Grant McCann

The Tigers have won all four league games, without conceding a goal, after Hakeeb Adelakun’s 10th-minute goal was enough to beat Plymouth Argyle at the KCOM Stadium.

Keane Lewis-Potter had the option to take a touch on the left flank, but instead curled a lovely first-time cross towards the back post. Adelakun timed his run perfectly and cushioned a precise right-footed volley into the far corner

Argyle had their moments in the first half – Conor Grant struck just over from distance – but they could find no way through.

It was a similar story after the restart, with the visitors offering plenty of resistance without testing goalkeeper Matt Ingram.

That was until the 69th minute when Kell Watts’s drive was cleared off the line – with the Newcastle loan signing’s follow-up well saved by Ingram.

Plymouth continued to push for an equaliser but Hull’s defence stood firm for another clean sheet and three more points.

“I thought in the first half we were excellent,” said McCann. “We set out to be really aggressive, be on the front foot.

“Plymouth are a good team. They play it out from the back and Ryan Lowe’s got them playing in a certain style. They’re not afraid to give it to their centre-backs and try and play it through you.

“I thought we got it spot on in the first half. Our full-backs were aggressive against their wing-backs.

“We asked the midfield three to be man v man and go right against them and be tight and ask the opposite full-back and the two centre-backs to look after the two forwards.

“First half, we did it really well. Second half, their wing-backs were a lot more aggressive.

“We probably should have been three or four nil up with the chances we had in the first half, but we didn’t take them.

“That’s probably what left it a wee bit nervy at the end. There were still some very good chances in the second half but they’re a good team and they’ll cause a lot of teams problems.

“What really pleased me was the second half when we had to dig deep again,” McCann added.

Hull: Ingram, Emmanuel, Burke, De Wijs, Elder, Docherty, Honeyman, Batty (Slater 75), Adelakun (Mayer 73), Magennis, Lewis-Potter (Samuelsen 88). Unused substitutes: Long, Coyle, Alfie Jones, Callum Jones.

Plymouth: Michael Cooper, Wootton, Canavan, Watts, Moore, Camara, Grant (Reeves 76), Mayor, Opoku (George Cooper 59), Nouble, Hardie (Telford 76). Unused substitutes: Aimson, Edwards, Fornah, Ruddy.

Referee: R Lewis (Shropshire).

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Editor