Hull City boss Grant McCann believes his side could have put their tie against Reading to bed in the first half yesterday had they been more clinical, speaking to the Tigers' media team after the match.

The away side were forced to rescue a draw at the Select Car Leasing Stadium, initially going behind through Tom Holmes' overhead kick shortly before the interval.

However, a rare goalkeeping error by Luke Southwood allowed Mallik Wilks to secure a decent point on the road for the East Yorkshire outfit.

Going into the game, the McCann's men had won their last four matches and were coming up against a Reading side that had only won two of their last eight league fixtures, giving the Tigers the perfect opportunity to register another victory.

 

 

And in the opening quarter of an hour, Hull established themselves as the favourites to go in front, pressing forward with the likes of Keane Lewis-Potter heavily involved.

Hull were admittedly let off the hook by a smart Nathan Baxter save when John Swift was played through on goal - but they weren't so lucky in the second minute of stoppage time in the first half when they failed to deal with a corner.

Their good luck arguably came in the second half when Reading had two strong claims for a penalty waved away by referee Stephen Martin - but even before then - Hull boss McCann believes his side could have made the game safe before the interval.

He said in his post-match press conference: "I thought first half we were excellent.

"Reading had a good chance with (John) Swift but apart from that, and the goal they scored on the stroke of half-time, we could have been out of sight with the chances and opportunities we had in the final third."

The Verdict:

On the balance of play, a draw was probably a fair result yesterday.

Hull may have been dominant in the first half, but it was Reading that were pushing for a winner in the latter stages of the game. For the home team, their lack of chance creation prevented them from scoring this winner, having a couple of half-chances through Andy Carroll but failing to test Baxter enough.

Similar could be said for Hull who probably didn't test Southwood as much as they would have liked after putting on the pressure in the opening 45, so that's one area both teams will be looking to address on the training ground as they approach next weekend's fixtures.

Then again, they may count themselves lucky to be coming away from Berkshire with a point after surviving two penalty claims, and even many fans of the Tigers were admitting they were lucky not to concede one.

But this slice of luck has allowed them to continue their unbeaten run, something that will be a big boost going into their next match against Bristol City, a very winnable game at the MKM Stadium considering Nigel Pearson's side's recent form on the road.