Liam Rosenior lamented two dropped points after Hull were pegged back in an entertaining 2-2 draw with Millwall.
Joe Bryan’s first Lions goal secured a point for the hosts but Hull were excellent in the first half, and led 2-1 at the break thanks to goals from Jaden Philogene and Adama Traore.
Duncan Watmore had put Millwall ahead in the eighth minute and the hosts had chances to win it late on, leaving Hull manager Rosenior relieved to hear the full-time whistle – despite bossing much of the match and failing to convert several chances.
“It feels like two points dropped, absolutely,” he said.
“So many aspects of our play are so good. What we need to improve on is killing games whilst we’re on top. We haven’t done that this season and we should have more points as a result.
“The one benefit is I’ve got a great young group here and they’re learning. We made young mistakes in and out of possession. That’s the risk you have when you’ve got young players.
“They need to learn quickly and I need to learn and analyse quickly in terms of how to help them.
“I think everybody in the stadium can see the potential in this team today. The frustrating thing for me is we’ve come such a long way and we should have won this game.
“My first game was here and we had to dog it out with 10 men. The team’s evolving, we’re getting better.
“The next part of that evolution is killing that game off. I promise you we will win a lot of games playing this way this season. They threw the kitchen sink at us, but we need to be braver to play.”
Hull have lost just one of their last 10 matches, and that came at high-flying Ipswich in midweek, while Millwall sit just two points behind them in a congested table.
The Lions’ home form has been uncharacteristically patchy, winning just two of their last seven, and manager Gary Rowett admits it was a game of two halves but praised Millwall’s spirit for bouncing back.
“We responded really well to going behind. We have to make the changes tactically, formation-wise and personnel-wise and that did the trick second half,” he said.
“We needed a bit more composure and maybe we could have got the third. I didn’t think we had amazing chances, but we had one or two where maybe we could have won the game.
“I’m really pleased with the response. We didn’t cope with the two goals very well again and I spoke to the players about that at half-time.
“Hull are a really good side, Liam’s done a great job. They’re really hard to play against. When you press then they just bounce it round you.
“We were too passive. We went a goal up and their two goals were two very poor moments from us. The first one we let a runner go between two players unopposed and the second one was a mix up.
“All you can do then is respond. We didn’t want another home defeat because I think that would have been really damaging.”
Dream debut: Dixon shines with goal, assist on debut for Charlton U21s in 3-2 win over Watford
Reggae Boy Kaheim Dixon was on the scoresheet in his debut for Charlton Athletic U21s in a 3-2 win over Watford at Vicarage Road on Friday.
Charlton took the lead after just two minutes through a goal from Henry Rylah before Watford got their equalizer through Mamadou Doumbia a minute later.
The 19-year-old Dixon, who joined the League One club from Arnett Gardens in August, then capitalized from a defensive mistake by Watford to put his team up 2-1.
Charlton then went two goals clear thanks to Mile Leaburn, who was assisted by Dixon.
Doumbia got his second goal of the game to finish the scoring at 3-2.
Charlton U21s now have 19 points in seven games in the Professional Development League.
The win strengthens lead atop the table to six points.
They will next take on Brentford U21s on October 1.
Alcaraz beaten on Laver Cup debut with Zverev in doubles
Carlos Alcaraz suffered defeat on his Laver Cup debut, as he was beaten in straight sets alongside Alexander Zverev in doubles by Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton.
Team Europe put up a strong fight but struggled to match Fritz and Shelton, who won 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 in one hour and 37 minutes.
Alcaraz and Zverev made a slow start to the match, losing their serve in the fourth game as the Americans went on a three-game winning streak, but they pulled it back to level the tie, only to lose the tie-break.
Team Europe looked to have found their groove in the second set but failed to convert four break points in the fourth game as Fritz and Shelton levelled the score at 2-2.
A three-game winning run at the end of the set, including one more break, was enough to get Team World over the line, pulling them back to 2-2 at the end of day one.
Francisco Cerundolo had originally given Team World the lead with a shock win over Casper Ruud before Stefanos Tsitsipas and Grigor Dimitrov's wins had put Team Europe 2-1 up.
Walter proud of 'courageous' Hull after comeback win
Tim Walter says he is proud of his "courageous" Hull City side after earning his first win in charge, beating Stoke City 3-1.
Narcis Pelach led the Potters out for the first time on Friday and saw his side take a 1-0 lead through Ben Wilmot into half-time.
However, Hull came out fighting in the second half to claim three points for the first time this season.
Kasey Palmer saw a penalty saved just after the hour mark but turned in the rebound before goals from Regan Slater and an own goal from Wilmot completed their late turnaround.
It is a win that propels the Tigers from 19th to 13th in the Championship, above Stoke, and Walter believes it has been a long time coming.
"It's hard to describe because I never had this feeling before. I've never not had a win in five games, so for me, it's a new situation," Walter told Sky Sports.
"But I also knew the whole time that we can win. Today we did it and that's the reason I'm really proud of my boys. They deserved to win.
"I'm happy because they always believed they can win and that's important.
"After conceding the goal, we were better. We were more courageous. We showed more bravery and that's the key to the result."
Pelach succeeded Steven Schumacher as Stoke's manager following his shock sacking earlier this week, having won two of the five matches under the Englishman at the start of the season.
Stoke managed 14 shots against Hull, but only two efforts on target, with both of those coming in the first 45 minutes.
Despite starting with a defeat, Pelach is looking for the positives after such a short time with the squad.
"It's a pity we couldn't win the game," Pelach told BBC Radio Stoke.
"We wanted to take the points, but I think the lads tried to put a new style of play in place.
"But in the second half, we lost control and ran out of energy. We should have pressed more, but we will try to explain this tomorrow and keep working on the defensive style.
"There is some things to work on mentally and we will do it. We will take the positives, and we will improve."
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