Sergej Jakirović admits Hull City lacked energy in Stoke City defeat

The Tigers went into the New Year's Day fixture protecting a five-match unbeaten run but they failed to summon the same energy that earned them an impressive win at Middlesbrough on Monday.

Robert Bozenik scored the only goal of the game as Stoke reignited their own promotion push in front of a frustrated MKM Stadium crowd.

Charlie Hughes and Kasey Palmer hit the crossbar for Hull but they were off colour in their first match of 2026.

Jakirović agreed with the notion that it was a game too far for his injury-hit team amid a challenging festive schedule.

"Especially in the first half," said the Bosnian, whose side host fellow promotion hopefuls Watford on Sunday.

"We didn't play how we wanted. There were a lot of long balls and it was very easy for Stoke to defend. They had a lot of defenders and are a very tall team. We needed to play with more creativity and ideas.

"I expected this kind of game that would be settled by one goal. They scored from our one mistake in open play.

"We put everything into the second half but we struggled to create chances apart from Oli McBurnie's good opportunity and the crossbar from Palmer.

"The game was very long because of the injuries and we're struggling a lot. It's not easy to replace our best players statistically.

"We've got to try and find energy and freshness for the next game."