Ozan Tufan suffers suspected hamstring strain in Hull City's defeat to West Brom

The Tigers were well beaten by West Brom at the Hawthorns, ending a run of four league games without loss as they remain among the early pacesetters.

Callum Elder’s 27th-minute own goal set Albion on their way to their first win of the season after Oscar Estupinan hit the bar for Hull.

But it was a second-half goal fest as John Swift, Darnell Furlong, Karlan Grant and Dara O’Shea saw Albion net five for the first time since beating Swansea City 5-1 in December 2019.

Estupinan grabbed consolations for Hull on 77 and 90 minutes after hitting the bar at 0-0, but it was very much Albion and Diangana’s day.

“We knew at 4-0 behind we wanted to do something to make it less hard and less painful,” said Arveladze.

“When you make it 5-1 it looks very bad so 5-2 gives some reaction, which, if you want to find something positive, gives us that feeling.

“They were better than us and we have to accept that, especially in the second half.

“We had a bit of the play in the first half an hour, but they played better than us, they played forward more.

“In the second half, they scored the second goal then got a third and we couldn’t stay in the game.

“They had one day less to prepare – they played on Wednesday – so we should have looked fitter than them, but we didn’t.”

Hull’s miserable day started with the early exit of striker Ozan Tufan to a potential hamstring injury.

It is a blow for City, who lost Allahyar Sayyadmanesh to a hamstring issue in the midweek draw at Burnley.

Arveladze is unsure how long Tufan may be sidelined for but admitted he was expecting the player to be out for at least a couple of weeks.

“He held his hamstring and if you do that, it could be a while,” said Arveladze.

Hull have a week to prepare for their home game with Coventry City and Arveladze is optimistic that Ryan Longman and Tyler Smith will both be available for selection after recovering from their respective injuries.

Ex-Hull manager Steve Bruce reflected on a much-needed win for his West Brom side, adding: “We were a bit anxious and wary – we missed chances, so we needed something like that (own goal) to get us up and running.

“I’m disappointed the way we finished the game but we needed a win and we got it.”

West Brom: Button, Furlong (Phillips 74), Ajayi, O’Shea, Townsend, Molumby, Yokuslu (Robinson 75), Wallace, Swift (Livermore 84), Diangana (Reach 84), Ahearne-Grant (Gardner-Hickman 84). Unused substitutes: Bartley, Palmer.

Hull City: Ingram, Coyle, Tobias Figueiredo, Greaves ,Elder, Alfie Jones, Slater, Williams (Covil 86), Tufan (Woods 21), Tetteh, Estupinan. Unused substitutes: Baxter, Cannon, McLoughlin, Callum Jones, Mills.

Referee: J Bell (England).