Sergei Jakirovic defends Hull City players as run is ended by Derby County
Hull head coach Sergei Jakirovic said he “felt sorry” for his team after they were beaten 2-1 at Derby on Tuesday night.
Jakirovic saw his side fight back only for a goalkeeping error to end Hull’s six-match unbeaten run. Carlton Morris – who scored a hat-trick at Bramall Lane on Saturday – continued his rich vein of form by heading Derby into a 27th-minute lead but Hull improved after the break and Joel Ndala netted his first league goal when Joe Ward collided with goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterstrom.
The game was decided by a mistake by Hull keeper Ivor Pandur in the 83rd minute which allowed Lars-Jorgen Salvesen to score.
Jakirovic said: “I’m very sorry for the lads because they put a lot of energy into this game, especially after Saturday. There is not too much time to recover, especially when we are short in our squad, but we are looking forward.
“It’s very disappointing because I think we played very well, especially in the second half when we were much better and controlled everything. First half we didn’t create so much and we made one mistake from a corner and Morris scores a fantastic header.
“After we equalised we started to play better but we didn’t score a second goal and then one mistake but this is football and it happens, especially with the goalkeeper.
“In my opinion Semi (Ajayi) needs to play a back pass and Ivor (Pandur) must stay in his box because Semi is closer to the ball and I have watched the video. But it’s a misunderstanding and he tried to clear the ball but he missed.”
Derby enjoyed a fourth consecutive win as head coach John Eustace beamed: “We’ve got a fantastic group of players.”