Tigers plan to deal with play-off disappointment

CURTIS DAVIES admits Hull City's last hopes of automatic promotion being snuffed out is a 'massive regret'.
Hull City players celebrate Tom Huddlestone's goal against Leeds.
Picture: Simon HulmeHull City players celebrate Tom Huddlestone's goal against Leeds.
Picture: Simon Hulme
Hull City players celebrate Tom Huddlestone's goal against Leeds. Picture: Simon Hulme

The Tigers being pegged back by a late equaliser from Leeds United’s Stuart Dallas at the KC Stadium means Steve Bruce’s men can no longer overhaul the top three teams in the Championship.

Instead, the play-offs – and a likely two-legged semi-final meeting with Derby County – lays in wait and Davies is adamant that Hull have only themselves to blame for falling away in a season that saw the Yorkshire club in pole position as recently as February 27.

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“It is a massive regret that automatic promotion has now gone,” said the defender.

“We know we were there or thereabouts six weeks ago. You look at Boro, where we lost 1-0 in the ‘93rd minute’, and now they have gone 10 points clear of us.

“It is frustrating but we have only got ourselves to blame. Everyone else has kept their momentum going and kept up their form.

“Now, though, we have to deal with the situation we are in and make sure we are ready for these play-offs.”

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Confirmation that Hull can no longer make the top two came on a big weekend for Yorkshire football.

York City’s relegation from the Football League was confirmed courtesy of a 3-0 defeat at Accrington Stanley.

Better news for the county saw Rotherham United’s safety assured in the Championship and Doncaster Rovers breathe fresh life into their own survival fight in League One by beating Coventry City.

Just three points separate Darren Ferguson’s men from fifth-bottom Fleetwood Town with two games to play.

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At the other end of the third tier, Bradford City took a giant stride towards the play-offs by thrashing Walsall while Barnsley also moved into the top six with a goalless draw at Sheffield United.

Only Hull of the county’s clubs are in action tomorrow and the home game with Brentford offers a big opportunity to strengthen their grip on fourth place – and secure home advantage in the play-off semi-final second leg.

City, who expect Michael Dawson to return to training today after injury, were disappointed not to hold on against Leeds but a four-game unbeaten run suggests the rot that set in during March and early April has been stopped.

“I have said all season that play-offs should be an absolute minimum for us,” added Davies. “We are not down in the dumps about being in them because we know it was five or six weeks ago where we let ourselves down.

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“If you fall at the last hurdle, in the last two or three games, that is when it can hit you worse. We have known for a while that the play-offs would be our best bet.

“We got our heads around it a long time ago. We just need to be ready for it.”

As the Tigers gear up for the play-offs, Leeds’s main focus revolves around the future of Steve Evans.

The Scot, appointed last October, has a contract until the end of the season and last week Massimo Cellino suggested United would look to appoint a foreign coach in the summer.

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Evans, for his part, is desperate to stay but insists he will not be putting any pressure on United’s Italian owner for a decision.

“My contract runs out in June or July,” said the United head coach after his side’s unbeaten run was extended to four games by the 2-2 draw at Hull. “I have made it absolutely clear that I want to be the Leeds United manager. But other people will have to decide if I am good enough.

“I had a long conversation with the president on Friday and it (the future) never came into it. I am now ready and waiting and eager to speak to the president when he is ready. But he will make his decision when he is good and ready.

“Every win gives me a better chance of staying and a better chance with a new employer.

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“I can’t be the judge on whether I think I have done enough to stay next season, the president has to be the judge of that.

“I genuinely want to deliver a promotion at Leeds United and I 100 per cent believe I am the man to do it. But I have to be given that opportunity.

“I won’t be chasing the president. I don’t have to. I think my relationship with the president is renowned in the club as being strong. We have a good relationship. I have made it absolutely clear that I want to be here.

“Him and his fellow directors have to want me. I don’t want to stay where I am not wanted, you have to be wanted.”

Match report: Page 3