Sunderland await after Hull City overcome psychological test against Fleetwood Town

Grant McCann praised his players’ resilience as Hull City recovered from a psychological blow in the League One title race to beat Fleetwood Town 2-1.
By Rhys Howell
Published 18th Apr 2021, 11:50 BST
Updated 18th Apr 2021, 11:55 BST

Second-placed Peterborough United’s 3-1 victory over Northampton on Friday saw them move level on points with the Tigers at the top of the table.

And things got worse for the East Yorkshiremen when they fell behind to a 22nd-minute strike from Fleetwood’s Kyle Vassell.

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McCann wondered if his side had been feeling the pressure of their situation during the opening 45 minutes of Saturday’s clash at the KCOM Stadium, but they managed to turn the game on its head after the break courtesy of goals by Josh Magennis and Keane Lewis-Potter.

Hull City's Greg Docherty battles for the ball with Fleetwood Town's James Hill (left) and Daniel Batty (right) during the Sky Bet League One match at the KCOM Stadium, Hull. (Picture: PA)Hull City's Greg Docherty battles for the ball with Fleetwood Town's James Hill (left) and Daniel Batty (right) during the Sky Bet League One match at the KCOM Stadium, Hull. (Picture: PA)
Hull City's Greg Docherty battles for the ball with Fleetwood Town's James Hill (left) and Daniel Batty (right) during the Sky Bet League One match at the KCOM Stadium, Hull. (Picture: PA)

“Maybe psychologically, with Peterborough winning last night and getting their game on the Friday night, it gave them a little bit of an advantage because they’d won before we played,” said McCann whose side face promotion riavls Sunderland tomorrow.

“We tried to move our game to the Friday night, but Fleetwood didn’t want it.

“I think they gave their players a couple of days off during the week and the EFL have sided with them, which is fair enough.

“But we tried to move to the Friday, we didn’t get it.

Hull came from behind to beat Fleetwood (Picture: PA)Hull came from behind to beat Fleetwood (Picture: PA)
Hull came from behind to beat Fleetwood (Picture: PA)
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“That was a factor in today’s game, maybe it was a factor in the first half, but again the resilience to come back and win was excellent.

“We weren’t at our best, but it doesn’t matter, three points was all that mattered for us today and we got the job done.”

Hull City: Ingram; Coyle, Jones, Greaves, Elder; Slater, Docherty; Wilks (Smallwood 90+2), Crowley (Whyte 71), Lewis-Potter; Magennis. Unused substitutes: Long, Eaves, Scott, Emmanuel, McLoughlin.

Fleetwood Town: Cairns; Hill, Connolly, Donacien; Burns (Biggins 86), Camps (Duffy 87), Rossiter (Finley 76), Batty, Andrew; McKay (Garner 76), Vassell (Saunders 76). Unused substitutes: Coleman, Holgate.

Referee: O Yates (Staffordshire).

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Related topics:Grant McCannPeterborough UnitedSunderlandLeague One

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