Hull boss Liam Rosenior saw Daniel Bachmann dent the Tigers’ play-off hopes – then heaped praise on the Watford keeper after the 0-0 draw at Vicarage Road.

Bachmann saved Ozan Tufan’s 11th-minute penalty to rob City of vital points in their push for the top six.

Rosenior spared Tufan any criticism for the miss, insisting Bachmann deserved all the credit for keeping City at bay.

The manager said: “Their keeper was magnificent. You just have to hold your hands up. There was the penalty stop and three or four other world-class saves.

“But no blame on Ozan. He’s been brilliant all season. He’s brave and he will take the next penalty.

“I was pleased with the response of the whole group after that. We never gave up until the final whistle. I can’t fault this group – I’m so proud of them.

“The players worked themselves into the ground and never gave up. They’re a credit to this club and a credit to the shirt.”

Hull continue their quest for the top six on Wednesday away to FA Cup semi-finalists Coventry.

They lie six points behind sixth-placed Norwich having played a game less and Rosenior added: “Norwich dropped points today and they will be as flat as we are.”

Turkish forward Tufan, rejected by Watford in 2022 after a loan spell, faced a barrage of abuse as he prepared to take the kick in front of the home end.

Watford’s defenders also encroached as they complained that the ball was not on the spot.

But Austrian stopper Bachmann remained calm and dived low to his left to save.

Watford interim boss Tom Cleverley, beaten just once in his seven games in charge, restored Bachmann to the team when he took over last month.

He said: “I don’t know how much homework has gone into that or whether Dan dived into the archives of penalties against us, but it was a fantastic save.

“He showed his real worth today. I knew his worth from playing alongside him for all those years – not only on the pitch but in the dressing room.

“He’s massive for me. He’s come in for some unfair criticism but we have full belief in him and we know how important he is to the squad.”

But Cleverley was not happy with a Watford performance that saw the Hornets fail to get a shot on target in the first 60 minutes.

They have not won at home in the league since November 28 – 12 matches – and Cleverley said: “We were flat for an hour. We need to make things happen, not wait for them to happen.

“I must change the mentality. From the first minute we must grab the game by the scruff of the neck.

“But we’ve played five of the top seven and we’ve made them all work hard to get points off us.”

Ozan Tufan’s penalty blunder left Hull facing a mammoth task to make the play-offs after a 0-0 draw at Watford.

Home keeper Daniel Bachmann saved the Turkish forward’s spot-kick in the 11th minute of a lacklustre match and now the Tigers, who have three games to play, are six points off the top six.

Hull had started the day desperate for points to keep in touch with the promotion pack.

Fifth-placed West Brom’s defeat at Leicester in the lunchtime kick-off gave the Tigers an extra incentive and they looked full of purpose at the start.

Watford were given a taste of what to expect when Matty Jacob’s well-flighted pass to Jaden Philogene completely took out right-back Ryan Andrews. Unfortunately for Philogene, his cross was easily gathered by Bachmann.

Soon after, Philogene earned a talking-to from referee Ben Toner for bundling over Hornets defender Ryan Porteous in the Watford penalty area.

Then Hull were were presented with a golden opportunity – and wasted it.

Abdulkadir Omur and Tufan combined to send Fabio Carvalho racing into the box from the left, where Wesley Hoedt brought him down.

Tufan, once rejected after a trial at Watford, stepped up to take the spot-kick in front of the home end and was taunted by the Hornets supporters.

That might have unnerved him – or it could have been Watford’s defenders agitating because the ball was not on the penalty spot – but Bachmann guessed correctly, diving to his left to keep out the kick to the joy of the home fans.

Predictably, that fired up Watford, with Yaser Asprilla and Emmanuel Dennis trying their luck.

But the visitors always looked more dangerous in the final third, and Bachmann rescued the Hornets again midway through the first half. Tufan came close to redeeming himself with a close-range backheel but Austrian stopper Bachmann somehow got down to the foot of his right-hand post in time to keep it out.

Watford, chasing their first home win since November 28 – this was their 12th attempt – just could not match Hull’s attacking menace and the home side reached the break without a shot on target.

Tufan did finally manage to get the ball into the net in the 52nd minute only to be foiled by a late offside flag.

Andrews’ shot on the hour whistled wide of the post – meaning Watford still had not troubled Tigers keeper Ryan Allsop.

Finally, in the 64rd minute, Allsop had a save to make – but it was so easy from Ismael Kone’s soft, low shot.

Watford looked woefully short of ideas, and soon after, Vakoun Bayo’s attempt to score with a header almost hit a corner flag.

Substitute Mileta Rajovic livened up Watford after coming on in the 72nd minute, winning a free-kick after being bundled over by Alfie Jones and forcing a flying save from Allsop with a 25-yard free-kick.

Hull sub Liam Delap matched that with a shot across the box that flashed just wide of the far post.

Then, with six minutes of normal time left, Bachmann made a crucial save from a Carvalho free-kick.

Kieran McKenna was happy to draw on the positives and praised Ipswich’s focus even though they missed out on the chance to go top of the Sky Bet Championship following a stalemate at home to Watford.

Town were eager to bounce back from Saturday’s 1-0 loss at bitter foes Norwich and had watched promotion rivals Leicester and Leeds drop points on Tuesday.

It meant victory for Ipswich would have sent them to the summit but a dominant first-half failed to bring a crucial opener with Nathan Broadhead firing against the inside of the post after 36 minutes before Daniel Bachmann denied Kieffer Moore’s flying header just before the break.

While home substitute Ali Al-Hamadi had a late effort deflected wide, Ipswich struggled to fashion chances in the second period and almost lost in stoppage-time when Edo Kayembe’s clearance from inside his own half nearly caught out Vaclav Hladky.

McKenna’s side instead had to settle for a point, which at least moved them back above Leeds with four matches to go and Middlesbrough the next visitors to Portman Road on Saturday.

“First half we created a couple of what would have been really good goals for us but it just wasn’t our night in terms of going into the back of the net,” McKenna reflected.

“We take the positives from the performance. I thought you could see in our performance in the first half, we played with no tension, no worries.

“I thought it was a really good performance and it didn’t look like it was the 41st game or the 14th game. We just played as us and that’s what we want to do.

“Our focus is just on the next game. Every game is really hard-fought, every point is hard won and we’ve had to fight really hard to win one tonight.

“We know it’ll take a hell of an effort and a hell of a performance to get anything on Saturday as well, so that is where our focus is.

“Not on anyone else or the table, it is just on trying to get ready for the next game and it certainly takes that in this division and this group have done that really well.”

Tom Cleverley expressed his pride after he watched Watford extend their unbeaten run to five games under his short managerial tenure.

The Hornets have now claimed draws with Leeds, West Brom and Ipswich since Cleverley was appointed interim boss on March 9 and targeted three points from this weekend’s trip to Southampton.

Cleverley added: “I’m incredibly proud of the group.

“Three clean sheets in five and that’s a solid foundation moving forward.

“We’re setting small markers down with the draw against Leeds, the draw away at West Brom and now the draw away at Ipswich.

“Now we want to put one big marker down with a win away at Southampton on Saturday and that is the challenge we face.”

On Kayembe’s 95th-minute lobbed effort, Cleverley admitted: “That would have been the best goal I’ve ever been present for.”

Watford manager Valerien Ismael refused to criticise goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann and defender Ryan Andrews for the clanger that left Watford having to come back from behind to secure a 1-1 draw at home to Swansea.

Ismael opted to drop previous first choice Ben Hamer and restore Bachmann to the starting line-up for the first time in the league since November 28.

But the Austrian was the key man in an 18th-minute mix-up that gifted the visitors the lead.

Andrews stopped Przemyslaw Placheta from reaching a long ball into the inside left channel from Matt Grimes by heading the ball back towards his goalkeeper.

But Bachmann had come rushing off his line without the right-back realising – and both were left watching in horror as the ball bounced into an empty net.

Ismael said: “It was a lack of communication. It has happened – unfortunately. There is no antidote against making mistakes in football.

“At half-time we had to clear the air and then we spoke positively. At the minute this is really tough – it is a challenge – but we cannot drop mentally.

“We came back into the game so it is step after step. Just at the minute we need to get all the positives that we can get – and I think we will become stronger after this period.”

Bachmann made two good saves after that however – first to deny Ronald on the half-hour mark after the Brazilian had caught Jamal Lewis in possession and then to stop a close-range header by Ben Cabango near the end of the first half.

Ismael added: “When you are in difficult situations you have to make changes so we changed players, in the first half the way to play and a lot of things on the training ground, including the schedule just to make sure the players were aware about the situation.

“Every player is involved and for me the keeper position is like an outfield player – it should be possible to change the keeper just to keep everyone involved.”

Watford levelled in the 57th minute from a corner that was swung into the box by Giorgi Chakvetadze, who had replaced Ken Sema just before the break.

Wesley Hoedt flicked it on at near post with centre-back Porteous appearing to divert it over the line from close range.

Watford dropped to 13th spot – two places above Swansea, whose manager Luke Williams has seen his side pick up seven points from the last three games to edge away from the drop zone.

He said: “I felt at half time we could have been in front by another goal but Watford were really aggressive in the second half and we deserved a point each.

“We were value for a goal even though it was fortunate in the way it came about.

“We are feeling in a good place and in all three games we performed to a pretty good level but there is no doubt that we have a long way to go to being the best team we can be.

“We have been 2-0 up, 2-0 up and 1-0 up at half-time so we have to make better performances in the second 45 minutes. This is an obvious one.

“In the second half we have to either maintain our level or find a way to control the game better – that is what we have to learn.

“Overall we have been competitive outside the really top sides in the division.”

Ryan Porteous cancelled out Ryan Andrews’ unlucky own goal as Watford came from behind to share a 1-1 draw at home to Swansea.

The point enabled the mid-table Championship rivals to move further away from a relegation dogfight, although it also ended a two-match winning streak for the Swans.

Watford have still not won at home in the league since November 28.

Goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann was brought back for a first Watford appearance in the league since three days before that win.

The first chance in the 13th minute was for Watford as Yaser Asprilla skipped past Harry Darling to reach the Swans box but Ben Cabango was able to deflect the Colombian’s shot wide.

Centre-back Cabango had to do the same three minutes later when Jamal Lewis had a go from the left of the box, and Swansea’s reply was an 18th-minute opener that was all of Watford’s making.

Andrews stopped Przemyslaw Placheta from reaching a long ball into the inside left channel from Matt Grimes by heading the ball back towards his goalkeeper. Except that Bachmann had come rushing off his line without the right-back realising – and both were left watching in horror as the ball bounced into an empty net.

Bachmann made partial amends for his earlier error with a fine save to deny Ronald on the half-hour mark. The Brazilian, a January addition for Swansea, caught Lewis dozing in possession to get an unimpeded run at goal – but Bachmann was able to divert his shot behind.

Josh Tymon was booked for barging Andrews over – a challenge that home fans thought should have merited a red card – before Emmanuel Dennis saw a shot deflected behind and Porteous headed over from a corner.

The last chance of the half was Swansea’s however – a close-range header by Cabango from Jamie Paterson’s cross – but Bachmann did well to get a glove on it.

Placheta saw a drive deflected behind as Swansea began the second period strongly but Dennis soon saw a header saved at the other end.

Watford levelled in the 57th minute from a corner that was swung into the box by Giorgi Chakvetadze, who had replaced Ken Sema just before the break. Wesley Hoedt flicked it on from in front of the near post and Porteous was in the right place to divert it over the line from close range.

That pepped up the Hornets and, following good work down the left by Chakvetadze, Asprilla and then Lewis saw on-target efforts blocked by defenders.

Placheta fired Swansea’s best chance in a while across goal and wide in the 73rd minute before Dennis, who had earlier scuffed wide, saw a late Watford chance deflected over.