Liam Rosenior disappointed not to win despite Hull’s two-goal fightback

By Sports Desk November 25, 2023

Liam Rosenior feels Hull’s disappointment at not winning against Swansea having been two goals down proves how far his side have grown under his leadership.

Second-half strikes from Jaden Philogene and Tyler Morton cancelled out first-half efforts from Jamie Paterson and Jerry Yates as the Tigers fought back to clinch a point in south Wales.

And Rosenior says his side never felt out of the game, despite conceding twice in the opening 45 minutes.

“The first 15 minutes we started really well and they score with their first shot,” he said.

“When that happens, it rocks you a bit, especially when you’re that much in control.

“The second goal, Ryan (Allsop) has been magnificent, he is a massive part of our game, but he’s disappointed not to hold that one.

“To see the character, team spirit, resilience and quality the players played with after that, it gave the players confidence at half-time.

“It sums up where we are that we’re 2-0 down away from home and we’re disappointed not to win the game.”

Hull started on the front foot, and Swansea lost Harrison Ashby to injury in the 10th minute.

But Michael Duff’s men went ahead after a neat flick from Ollie Cooper found Paterson who cut inside Sean McLoughlin before drilling a low shot beyond Allsop in the 17th minute.

Just six minutes later, Hull goalkeeper Allsop spilled Paterson’s drive which allowed Yates to prod home.

The Tigers pulled a goal back through Philogene, whose rifled effort flew past Carl Rushworth three minutes after the restart.

Morton then volleyed home on 68 minutes to set up a tense finish, although neither side could find a late winner as the points were shared.

And Swans boss Duff bemoaned his side’s inability to manage the second half.

“Frustration is the word,” said the former Burnley defender.

“There was lots of good stuff in the first half, some good quality football, possession with purpose.

“We played through them and hurt them, I thought we were good value for the 2-0 lead.

“The second half, they score from the first attack which sucked the energy out of the team.

“Then we got stuck between a rock and a hard place, whether we get on the front foot as we did in the first half or we try to protect. In the end, we did neither.”

Meanwhile, Duff says he is hopeful of signing free agent Yannick Bolasie on a short-term deal.

The former Everton and Crystal Palace winger, 34, has trained with the club this week and could join ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Leeds.

“Yannick’s been in the building for a week. Hopefully that’ll get done,” said Duff.

“He hasn’t got the pace and power he once had, but you don’t get bought for £25m (by Everton) if you don’t know how to handle a football.

“It’ll be a two-month deal and we’ll see how it goes from there.”

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