Hull City 2 Millwall 0: Barmby keeping focus on football as another win puts Hull in fourth

Millwall’s Jack Smith turned Koren’s cutback into his own net to give Hull the lead, and the Slovenia midfielder fired home his fourth goal in five games to make it 2-0 and kill off the visitors.

Barmby is yet to commit to the managerial role on a full-time basis and has insisted a decision will not be made until the new year, but a fifth win in seven games under his tenure has taken Hull up to fourth in the table.

“I’ve been told that no-one’s going (in the January transfer window),” Barmby said. “If this team stays together and maybe there are a few additions we will have a good side that can make noise in this league.

“We’re not getting carried away, but historically in this league there is a breakaway of teams in January and we want to be in that pack.”

Under Barmby, Hull have adopted a passing game that has allowed players such as Koren to flourish, and the former England forward has insisted a free-flowing approach is crucial to allow his players to express themselves.

“With the players we have there is no way I would tell them to knock the ball long,” Barmby added. “We’ve got good footballers and as long as the team shape is right and work ethic is good, they will enjoy themselves.

“We played a lot better in the second half as we were more patient, and Robert showed terrific technique for his goal, but we did ride our luck a couple of times.”

Millwall have now only won one of their last seven games, but manager Kenny Jackett was philosophical in defeat.

“We went behind to an unfortunate own goal but we had a lot of good chances after that,” Jackett said. “Darius Henderson had four good situations and Paul Robinson hit the bar. But we needed to take those chances.

“The division has just got an edge on us at the moment. It’s five or 10 per cent that we’re looking for – not 25 per cent. But we do need to find more for the second half of the season. We’re not where we want to be.”

In a forgettable first half, Hull goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi was forced to full stretch by Brian Howard’s free-kick while Steve Mildenhall thwarted Matty Fryatt with a fine save at the other end.

However, Hull grabbed the lead after 54 minutes when Koren took advantage of hesitant defending to snatch the ball away from Mildenhall and cut the ball back for Smith to divert into his own net.

Millwall came close to an equaliser when Robinson’s close-range header crashed against the crossbar and Gulacsi somehow scrambled the ball away. But Hull secured the points 10 minutes from time as Millwall’s defence failed to clear a long kick from goalkeeper Gulacsi and Koren rifled home a right-footed volley into the bottom-left corner to keep Barmby’s fine run going.

Hull: Gulacsi,Rosenior,Chester,Hobbs,Dawson,McKenna,Evans,Koren, Mclean (Garcia 84),Fryatt,Stewart (Brady 78). Unused substitutes: Basso,McShane,Dudgeon.

Millwall: Mildenhall,Dunne,Robinson,Lowry,Baker (Stewart 26), Feeney,Smith,Howard,Barron (Bouazza 75),Henry,Henderson, Stewart (Ward 63). Unused substitutes: Allsop,Marquis Referee: David Coote (Nottinghamshire).

Man of the match: Robert Koren.