Hull City 0 Sheffield United 1: Hull City fall to brilliant solo effort by Yeates

Former Tigers winger Mark Yeates scored the winner for Sheffield United but it provided only brief illumination on a dreary autumn night.

This game will certainly not live long in the memory, especially among the Hull supporters who now await news of a proposed takeover deal which could help revive their season.

Egyptian-born businessman Assem Allam is willing to pay 12m for a controlling stake in a club that has dropped out of the Premier League with debts in the region of 22m.

But Allam, whose diesel generator manufacturing company is based in Melton, is not the only potential investor in town.

Tigers owner Russell Bartlett has also held talks with American investors fuelling talk of a tug-of-war between the two rival bidders.

Reports that Peter Ridsdale may be involved with the Americans have been denied by the former Leeds United and Barnsley chairman.

Hull manager Nigel Pearson has put the emphasis on defence this season, certainly at home where his side had kept clean sheets in five previous games.

But there is a thin line between having a tight defence and showing a lack of ambition – and the jeers at the final whistle suggested this one tipped the scales in the wrong direction.

Pearson kept faith with goalkeeper Matt Duke despite signing Arsenal's Vito Mannone on loan while striker Rowan Vine was dropped to the bench just two games after his arrival on loan from Queens Park Rangers.

Blades manager Gary Speed resisted the temptation to start with striker Jamie Ward after a three-match ban but recalled defender Stephen Jordan, with loanee Richie De Laet rested to the bench.

Playing just one in attack, the Blades spent the majority of the first half on the defensive.

Hungarian winger Robert Koren flashed a shot narrowly wide after 19 minutes but the game totally lacked early sparkle.

For most in the stadium, this would have been the first game of the season where the need for woolly hats and scarves was pressing.

Temperatures had dipped towards freezing on the banks of the Humber but at least there was scant reason to remove hands from coat pockets.

Blades midfielder Stephen Quinn and Hull goalkeeper Duke offered a perfect illustration of why these clubs have dropped out of the Premier League.

With Hull under pressure in their own area, Duke punched a cross straight to Quinn, unmarked 25 yards out.

At top-flight level, this would have seen the offending goalkeeper being forced into an immediate save. Quinn, however, lost control of the ball with a sloppy first touch and then passed it all the way back to his own goalkeeper.

Home supporters got twitchy, perhaps contemplating that the Champions League game between Real Madrid and

AC Milan on satellite television might have provided a better alternative night's viewing.

At one stage, their own side had completed a dozen passes, unchallenged, without even crossing the halfway line.

The game was crying out for more urgency, a touch of flair, anything that might just lift it out of the depths of tedium. Three minutes before the interval there was a minor flash of excitement when Hull goalkeeper Duke dived low to push Richard Cresswell's header around a post. Things desperately needed to improve.

The Blades had to make a change shortly after the break when defender Jordan pulled a muscle in a sprint for the ball with Garcia but, moments later, they were celebrating taking the lead. Winger Yeates, who spent five months on loan with the Tigers four years ago, jinked his way into the Hull box, embarrassing Paul McShane en route, and tucked the ball home.

It was his second goal in consecutive games for the Blades and the first conceded by Hull in six homes games this season.

Hull manager Pearson reacted by making a triple substitution. Cullen, Garcia and Caleb Folan came off – the

latter to ironic cheers – replaced by John Bostock, Jay Simpson and Vine.

Home fans demanded more adventure from their side and chants of 'Attack, attack, attack' rained down briefly from the East Stand.

The Tigers failed to meet the challenge although McShane nearly made amends for his error when heading wide late on.

It also needed a fine save from Duke to prevent substitute Ward doubling the Blades' margin of victory.

Hull City: Duke; McShane, Ayala, Gerrard, Dawson; Garcia (Simpson 58), Koren Cairney, Kilbane; Folan (Bostock 58), Cullen (Vine 58). Unused substitutes: Mannone, Ashbee, Bostock, Barmby, Simpson, Solano, Vine.

Sheffield United: Simonsen; Calve, Morgan, Nosworthy, Jordan (De Laet 48); Britton; Cresswell, Ertl, Quinn, Yeates (Lowton 90); Bogdanovic (Ward 63). Unused substitutes: Wright, Taylor, Bartley, Slew.

Referee: K Friend (Leicestershire).