Tigers hero Fryatt in the market while aiming to honour contract after keeping play-off hopes alive

The 26-year-old strengthened his bid to be Hull’s top scorer for the second year running with a dramatic late winner on Monday in the 2-1 victory over Middlesbrough.

Fryatt’s 12th strike of the campaign means Hull still have an outside chance of making the play-offs going into the final four games.

If the Tigers do not make the top six, however, then manager Nick Barmby will start looking towards next term. Holding onto Fryatt will be seen as a priority after director of football operations Adam Pearson admitted in his programme notes for the Boro game that any summer arrivals are likely to be Bosman free transfers.

With that in mind, Hull fans have been speculating as to whether their top scorer will still be around after rumours emerged that the Fryatt family home is on the market.

The Nuneaton-born striker confirmed: “My house is up for sale. I am not quite sure how people find this sort of thing out.

“We had our third child just before March and having a young family without close family up here is difficult for myself, and particularly my wife when I’m not around.

“Whatever is easiest for us as a family, I will support that. I have got a contract for two more years here and I can’t see much movement going on.”

Fryatt’s late winner against Boro meant Hull avoided the ignominy of a sixth straight defeat, which would have been their worst league run since 1989.

The hope now among the KC faithful is that Barmby’s men can finish the season strongly, starting at Watford on Saturday.

On the battle to reach the play-offs, Fryatt said: “You have got to keep on saying there is a chance until it is gone but the games against the lower teams – Coventry, Portsmouth and Millwall (which were all lost) – were the big chances.

“We did have a chance but I don’t think we capitalised on it. Now we are playing catch-up.

“We can only hope the teams above us blow up. Even if we win all our games it might not be enough.

“For the fans and for ourselves, we have just got to keep on going. Hopefully, we can get a few more goals for the fans to shout about, too.

“There hasn’t been a lot for them since the turn of the year so it would be nice to reward the fans.”

Hull’s run of defeats saw them slip from sixth to 10th, a return of just one goal in those five games having inflicted possibly fatal damage to the club’s promotion hopes.

Fryatt added: “Without saying too much, I think we became a little bit predictable.

“The opposition can sit two banks of four behind us and while we are passing it, we are not probing.

“It is something teams cottoned on to. They could sit in, break, 1-0, job done really.

“The games also caught up with us in March (when Hull played nine times) but we weren’t doing enough to score goals or be on the front foot.

“It is difficult to play that number of games in such a short space of time and it was a little bit too much, if I am honest.”

The fifth of those reverses came on Easter Saturday at Millwall, after which Fryatt admits a few words were exchanged in the dressing room.

He continued: “It has been hard for everyone around the club. Obviously the players, but the management and the supporters as well.

“They have not had a lot to sing about because the performances have been poor of late. We have been on a bad run of five straight defeats and no goals to show for it either.

“We showed good character to respond (against Boro on Monday) and the resolve we showed in the second half said a lot.”

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