Southend United 0 Hull City 2: Tigers hero Fryatt accepts being cast back into a supporting role

That, though, is the scenario facing Matty Fryatt after his second-half double allowed Hull City to negotiate a safe passage through a potentially tricky fourth-round trip to Southend United.

The two finishes that saw off the plucky League Two underdogs were of the highest order.

But, as Fryatt is the first to admit, Steve Bruce is likely to turn to Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic, the strike duo that the Tigers splashed £14m on earlier this month, for tomorrow’s Premier League encounter at Crystal Palace.

“I expect the two new players to come in (at Selhurst Park) because of the money that has been spent,” said Fryatt, who only started at Roots Hall because both Long and Jelavic are Cup-tied due to having played in the previous round for West Bromwich Albion and Everton, respectively.

“I just have to get on with it. This season has been difficult for me. I missed most of last year (through injury) and then came in at the back end but it was difficult.

“All the lads had 40 games under their belt and I felt it showed. It was too much for me. I wasn’t able to show what I could do.

“Going into the Premier League this season, the manager spent some money on bringing strikers in. He is obviously then going to fancy the players he has brought in.

“That meant I had to go out on loan to Sheffield Wednesday. I felt good there and they are a good club. I am grateful for what they did for me.

“I came back (to Hull) and was on the bench against Arsenal. Getting back in the 18-man squad was a big boost for my confidence. Then, I came on for a minute against West Brom and, fortunately, I scored against Fulham.

“Since then, I have come off the bench a couple of times and done what I could. That included Southend. It had been a while since I started and finished 90 minutes.

“But I felt good out there. Obviously, scoring twice means I will get the headlines but I felt my general game was good.”

Fryatt was, indeed, the difference between the two sides on an afternoon that, from a City perspective, turned into a tale of two strikers.

Danny Graham was the other frontman and, while Fryatt forcibly pushed his case to be back-up to the new big-money strike-force of Long and Jelavic, the loanee from Sunderland most definitely did not.

Presented with a golden chance to open the scoring in the 35th minute by George Boyd, Graham could only shoot tamely at Daniel Bentley. Later, he would also be denied by the Southend goalkeeper when ideally placed to score and it was no surprise when the one-time Swansea striker was withdrawn 17 minutes from time.

Such was the manner in which Graham, who has scored just once for City, struggled that he may even miss out on a place on the bench at Palace tomorrow.

Fryatt, in contrast, could not have done any more to press his case to Bruce, who admitted the £1.2m signing from Leicester City had given him plenty to think about.

“He certainly did his chances no harm,” said the Tigers manager. “Last year, we unfortunately lost Matty Fryatt in my first game and had to replace him.

“We had the opportunity again to bring in two more quality strikers (this month) and that can only help us. It is not the end for Matty and I am delighted he has got two goals.”

Asked, however, if he could guarantee that Fryatt would still be at the KC come the end of the season, Bruce replied: “Not at this moment, no. If we were to get a wonderful offer… well, he is out of contract in the summer.

“As for a new deal, I have not really thought about it. We are relaxed. The one thing that Matty has done is get his head down and say ‘Steve, I’m going to try and get fit’.

“I keep saying you are only as good as your strikers and he is itching to play in the Premier League.”

The goals that saw Hull through against Southend underlined why seven or eight clubs have enquired about Fryatt already in the January transfer window.

His first came on 63 minutes courtesy of a delightful finish from 15 yards that followed the striker skipping past a couple of defenders with a deft change of direction.

Fifteen minutes earlier, Southend had rattled Steve Harper’s crossbar with a 30-yard piledriver from Michael Tomlin so Fryatt’s sixth goal of the season immediately settled down the Tigers.

His seventh, which arrived in the ‘91st’ minute, then killed any lingering hopes that Southend had of forcing a replay.

Again, it was a sublime finish as Fryatt tied centre-half Luke Prosser in knots with some delightful footwork before smashing an unstoppable shot beyond Bentley.

It meant in a town whose proudest boast is of being home to the longest pier in the world, City had moved to within a couple of steps of Wembley.

Just two more ties potentially stand between the Tigers and a semi-final appearance, a stage the East Yorkshire club has previously reached only once in its history way back in 1930. Fryatt said: “The furthest I have been in the Cup is the quarter-finals. I was with Leicester at the time. I also got to the fifth round at Walsall, too, but then left before it was played.

“No-one, though, is getting carried away. We have just beaten Southend so Wembley is a long way away. But we have a good squad and we will see what the next round brings.

“It was a hard Cup tie and Southend were pretty much what we expected. The thing with football is it can be decided by inches.

“If that shot (by Tomlin) goes in off the underside of the bar to put them 1-0 up then things could have been different. It was inches from doing that.

“Southend gave us a really tough game, which is what we expected. We knew they were in the game right until the second goal. There was nothing in it and I would say the ball hitting the crossbar was the turning point.”