HULL City head coach Sergej Jakirovic felt his side played 'without an idea' with the ball and were 'very bad' in the final third - in a disappointing performance in a 1-1 draw at relegation-threatened Oxford United.

City were afforded the perfect start when Mo Belloumi, making his first start since Boxing Day, put the visitors in front with just four minutes on the clock.

They failed to build on it. The U's - whose record against the Championship’s top six on home soil has been excellent in 2025-26 - restored parity just 10 minutes later through a Cam Brannagan penalty and were the better side for much of the remainder of the game as City struggled to get going in difficult wind-hit conditions.

Hull remain in fifth place in the second-tier table with results elsewhere being relatively kind.

Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe

placeholder image — Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe

Jakirovic, whose side host champions-elect Coventry City on Monday evening, said: "In the last five games, they (Oxford) took 10 points.

"They are fighting to stay in the league and to avoid relegation and especially in these circumstances today, with the weather conditions and the wind, you never know when the ball will stop in the air. Because they know how to use this wind.

"This is my impression. I think that we entered very well in the game and took the penalty through Belloumi, with a very nice goal and controlled mostly everything, but (apart from) these long balls to (Will) Lankshear, especially as he is very mobile there.

"He is a good player of course and we did one mistake in our midfield when we lost a very easy goal.

OXFORD, ENGLAND - APRIL 03: Referee Oliver Langford awards a penalty to Oxford United during the Sky Bet Championship match between Oxford United and Hull City at Kassam Stadium on April 03, 2026 in Oxford, England. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

"They used that penalty. Then we tried something, but we were without an idea on the ball today and needed better decisions in the last third. But we had this one good chance through Kyle Joseph and they had also (a chance).

"In the second half, we tried to fix these problems but they started better in 10-15 minutes.

"Then we started and we had control but unfortunately in last third today was for us very bad. Bad decisions, technical issues, (and needed) better crosses. We had numbers in the box but lack of good crosses.

"So we should be happy with the point and this is maybe a great result today.

"Always it's the main target to take three points, but also there is the opponent who was good as well and at 1-1 we go home."

On the penalty award after Lankshear went down following a challenge from Hughes, who Jakirovic brought off at the interval as he was on a booking, the City chief added: "From my point of view maybe (it was) outside, but I think it's clearly inside.

"From my experience, he (Hughes) will get the second one (yellow card if he stayed on). Because they will play with the wind towards our goal and try to use these long balls so he (Hughes) can run there and then he can be too late in some situations."