1 week Ago By [email protected] (Barry Cooper)
It's been 121 days since the unmistakable sounds of Fairytale of New York rung around the CBS Arena before kick-off, as Ruben Selles prepared for his first away game as Hull City head coach. Just three days after his opening game against Watford, Selles took his side to a resurgent Sky Blues under Frank Lampard and were in front after a difficult start when Joao Pedro fired them ahead, only to succumb to a 2-1 defeat with Ephron Mason-Clark the Tigers' chief tormentor. Fast forward more than a century of days, Selles will go head-to-head with Lampard again with both sides craving three points for different reasons.
City's position at the bottom end of the is perilous , while Coventry boosted their play-off hopes with a last-gasp win over Portsmouth in midweek, and come full-time on Monday night, there will be just four chances left to claim points, two of which come over the Easter weekend kicking off on Friday. The Tigers were rock bottom as they left Coventry on that December afternoon, having lost for the 11th time in 21 games and were two points from safety. Since then, they've gone on to register eight wins, collecting 28 points along the way, and given their difficult predicament, they'll be hoping that total is 31 come 10pm on Monday night.
For Selles, he says the improvement in his side has been stark even if they've been unable to pull away from danger in the way he would have hoped. "We are a different team to the one that went there," he told Hull Live. "We also arrived at the transfer window; we have been modifying things in terms of the style of play and the way that we use different shapes.
We have been more consistent in our defensive moments, especially in the last couple of months, and the team has developed in a way that is a very difficult team to beat, and it's competitive in every game. We are more competitive now than we were in that period, and hopefully, we'll be even more competitive. "They (the players) have proved that they have adapted well.
We have been competitive; we have been in almost every game besides a couple of exceptions, we had the chance to win games consistently. We didn't take it. It was a question about details, but I think the players have, in training, in the preparation of the games, or in the games, have given one hundred per cent.
" Given the pressure on the situation, and what could be facing City if the unthinkable happens, you could be forgiven if things were a little frantic, but Selles says it's imperative his players remain calm and focus on sticking to their principles. "Our approach is exactly the same as it was when it was 21, 22 or 25 games to go. The approach is about taking care of our business and doing our job properly," he explained.
"The best that we can do is be our best version, and then obviously adjust the game plans to the opponent, but we stick with the plan of thinking about ourselves, and that's the only way that we know we can be able to compete to win football matches. That has not changed. "I understand that in and around because the difference in points right now is what it is, but our approach is going to be exactly the same, that's how you get calm by doing things that you know how to do.
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