Ruben Selles admitted he was to blame for Hull City showing their "worst side" at Turf Moor – and once Hull City had given Burnley a 2-0 headstart, they were never likely to come back.

Bashir Humphreys and Zian Flemming scored the only goals of the game inside the first 21 minutes were as Championship title-chasers Burnley kept a 10th consecutive clean sheet in the league.

Coach Selles took the blame, saying it was his fault the side got its press wrong in the early stages.

"I think in the first part of the game, we put out (showed) our worst side," said the Spaniard. "We came here with a clear intention, a clear idea.

"Almost the first action, we had a shot from the edge of the box, and it got blocked. We got the pressure wrong and conceded a goal, and then the picture changed.

"It was a little bit of a shock for us. In the first half we were not as competitive as we want to be. We got the pressure wrong, and that's my responsibility.

"In the second half we were a much better version, but I think the opponent was better than us.

"The boys wanted to be aggressive, but when they arrived at the positions where we wanted to win the ball, the ball was not there, or we arrived late so that never gives you the possibility to show (your ability).

RESPONSIBILITY: Hull City coach Ruben Selles (Image: Jonathan Gawthorpe)

placeholder image — RESPONSIBILITY: Hull City coach Ruben Selles (Image: Jonathan Gawthorpe)

"We were much better when we just changed the pressure in the second part of the first half and in the second half. This is more aggressive, being able to win more balls, and yes, that's completely on me."

As well as making it harder for Hull to win the ball back, Selles explained how the press hurt them in possession too.

"When we arrived into the spaces where we wanted to conquer the ball, the ball was not there or we arrived late,” he said. “That means the ball was in another place and we needed to run back, that created more difficulties for us to defend in our final third.

"We were not able to get the ball down and play, we were too static because of the effort we made running around. It just created the situation that we were not competitive.

EARLY BLOW: Zian Flemming puts Burnley 2-0 up in the 21st minute of their midweek victory over Hull City (Image: Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

"When you don't get it right, you can get hurt. It took time for us to correct that and after that we were better."

Hull are in the relegation zone on goal difference from Derby County, who appointed John Eustace as manager on Thursday. They have 15 games to do something about it – one more than the Rams.

Selles took some encouragement from the improvement he saw after the break.

"They are a good side, and they didn't concede a goal now for a while, and we were not able to score, but I think we were a much better version in the second half," he said.

Former Sheffield United and Burnley centre-back John Egan made his Tigers debut in the game.

"He's an experienced player, he knows the league, knows the system, knows how to play those games and he's been excellent on the training ground so it wasn't a difficult decision,” said Selles.

Burnley are three points behind second-placed Sheffield United, who also won in midweek. Both those teams have 14 games left.