Hull City boss’s proud verdict after battling loss to “Premier League” Sheffield United

Liam Rosenior, the Hull City manager, was proud of how his side performed against a Sheffield United side he believes have “Premier League” standard players tonight.

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The Blades won 1-0 to move 14 points clear of third-placed Watford in the race for promotion, but made harder work of things than many may have predicted after teenager Daniel Jebbison gave his side a fourth-minute lead.

City pushed hard to get back into it and Rosenior feels they may well have until substitute Benjamin Tetteh was sent off for aiming a headbutt at Oli McBurnie with six minutes of normal time remaining.

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And Rosenior said: “I thought we pushed a very good team all the way. Paul’s doing a great job, there are players here who are top top players and are Premier League players.

“A lot of teams would have gone under after that early goal, against a side 14 points clear of third? I’m so proud of the group, we battled our way back and even with 10 men I was confident we’d push them all the way.

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“The players have to believe and we’re not far away from being a good team at this level. There’s ways to lose. What I demand and expect is that when we lose, we give everything. We showed a lot of quality for long spells in the second half. I’m learning about the group and they need to believe in themselves more.

“We need to turn our performances into results but not many teams come here the way we set up and we controlled the game for spells in the second half.”

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