West Brom 3 Hull City 2 - ‘Players have given us everything’ – Nigel Adkins

But he thinks his players deserve credit for getting into the play-off shake-up in the first place after being tipped as relegation candidates at the start of the season.

Kieran Gibbs gave Albion a 42nd-minute lead before Hull drew level through full-back Todd Kane in the 48th.

Kane gave Hull the lead after 59 minutes before Gayle grabbed Albion’s equaliser in the 63rd minute and then sealed the win five minutes from time.

Adkins said: “The lads have given us everything this season.

“We have come away from home and we knew that it would be a challenging fixture.

“We have played some good football and Todd Kane scored two great goals to put us in the ascendancy.

“But we knew that West Brom are a threat at set-pieces and we know that in Gayle they have a goalscorer. We designated a player to mark him but his equaliser was a turning point and the third goal was actually offside.

“So we did not get the fortune that sometimes you need and it is fine margins. You can’t fault the effort and commitment of the players. We were tipped to get relegated. We were bottom of the league in October and the players have given everything.

“That effectively takes us away from the play-off positions. Mathematically, we are still in there but you to be realistic as well.”

West Brom: Johnstone,Dawson, Bartley, Hegazi (Adarabioyo 18), Holgate, Harper (Phillips 62), Brunt, Johansen, Gibbs, Robson-Kanu (Murphy 71), Gayle. Unused substitutes: Livermore, Townsend, Edwards, Bond.

Hull City: Marshall, Kane, Burke (McKenzie 51), De Wijs, Lichaj,Bowen, Batty (Evandro 76), Henriksen (Stewart 35), Grosicki, Irvine, Campbell. Unused substitutes: Toral, Long, Martin, Ridgewell.

Referee: P Bankes (Merseyside).