Koren tries to draw comfort for Tigers after another stalemate

The international struck his 10th goal of the season and came within a whisker of winning the game with a shot which whistled inches wide in the 90th minute after their normally water-tight defence had allowed Ipswich to haul back a two-goal deficit in the last 20 minutes.

“We all feel like we lost the game. We knew it would be a difficult game but knew we needed to win. At half-time we said we needed to get the second one and it happened, but it is difficult to say what went wrong for 20 minutes,” said a deflated Koren.

“It was not good enough but you have to give some credit to Ipswich for the way they fought for a point. They can be happy while we are disappointed but we need to take it on the chin and move on.

“We need to believe that we can do something in Cardiff. We need three points and not just a draw.

“Every game you don’t win makes it more difficult to be in the top six. I know from experience that this is the crucial time. With 12 games left, every point that you drop is a massive point. Everybody is down, I will not lie about that because we are here to be successful.

“We are all down but need to take it on the chin. It’s not just this game, it’s the last five games. We always play so well in the first half and then somehow in the second half we don’t put out the performance that we know we can. We need to analyse it and we need to work hard every day because there are still enough games left to get in the top six.”

Hull’s performance deteriorated alongside the state of the pitch and that and the overall inexperience of the side could be factors behind the Tigers failing to finish off the opposition.

Koren continued: “Of course, when you are playing football the pressure is on. At the start of the season we said we want to be in the top six so the pressure was here from the start so it’s nothing different now, apart from it being the crucial time in the season, when every point you drop is a massive point.”

It had all started so well for Hull against the most porous visiting defence in the Championship and they dominated the opening half but had only one goal to show for their efforts – Matty Fryatt perhaps being unfortunate not to win a penalty as Carlos Edwards grappled with him.

The goal came through the returning Robbie Brady, whose troublesome thigh forced a safety-first half-time substitution. The right winger attempted to place his shot to Alex McCarthy’s right but was delighted to see lunging centre-back Tommy Smith deflect it past his goalkeeper.

Ipswich’s response was poor apart from a low drive from the powerful Jay Emmanuel-Thomas,which forced the save of the game from his former Arsenal reserves team-mate Vito Mannone down at his left-hand post.

Visiting manager Paul Jewell admitted that he had had to ‘tear a strip’ off his team, which had won five and drawn one of their previous seven games and they came out firing after the break.

This was when Hull’s defence was at its best. Emmanuel-Thomas narrowly failed to complete a move he had instigated but then Andy Dawson blocked from Jason Scotland after Mannone had dropped a cross and had left his goal unguarded.

Then central defender Jack Hobbs prevented Michael Chopra from scoring with a close-range volley – all three incidents coming within two minutes at the start of the half.

Hull appeared to have weathered the storm and got the points in the bag when Koren’s smart turn took him away from Smith and gave him the space to strike a 22-yarder inside McCarthy’s left-hand post in the 54th minute.

However, Ipswich were given a lifeline when Brady’s replacement, Aaron Mclean, attempted an acrobatic clearance but only kicked Smith in the chest to produce a penalty which home manager Nick Barmby had no complaints about and Grant Leadbitter made it 2-1 from the spot in the 67th minute.

Leadbitter smashed home the equaliser three minutes later with a shot from outside the area which no-one could do anything about after being teed up by Scotland. It set up a thrilling finale with both sides aware that only a win would enhance their play-off prospects. Hull went the closest through Koren and, in stoppage time, the ever-dangerous Fryatt, whose attempt to turn the ball home from inside the six-yard area was again thwarted by Edwards.

“When you are 2-0 up you should see out the game,” was Barmby’s reaction. “We got a scruffy goal which we were due but were the better team in the first half. For me, the penalty changed it. It was a rash decision to try an overhead kick in our own box and it’s changed the game. It gave them the ascendancy and full credit to Ipswich.

“Sometimes you need cool heads but I thought the back four was excellent again today. It’s all a learning curve for them as they are a young side.”

Of the KC pitch he added: “We can go on and on and on about the state of our pitch. It is there for all to see but I am not going to use it as an excuse. We played some good football on it this year and we did in the first half against Ipswich. We can’t re-lay it now but in an ideal world we want a carpet. Every team does.”

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Hull City: Mannone, Rosenoir, Chester, Hobbs, Dawson; Brady, McKenna, Evans, Stewart (King 82); Koren; Fryatt. Unused substitutes: Gulacsi, Mclean, Dudgeon, Cullen.

Ipswich Town: McCarthy, Edwards, Smith, Delaney, Cresswell; Emmanuel-Thomas, Leadbitter (Stevenson 82), Drury (Martin 61), Murphy (Bowyer 61); Chopra, Scotland. Unused substitutes: Lee-Barrett, Sonko.