Hull manager Rosenior: We should have killed Millwall off when we were on top

Hull manager Liam Rosenior felt his side dropped two points against Millwall on Saturday afternoon.

The Lions took an early lead through Duncan Watmore but found themselves behind at the break after defensive errors allowed Hull to breach the Millwall goal twice.

Joe Bryan’s first goal for the club secured a share of the spoils for Millwall – something that left the Hull boss very frustrated.

“So many aspects of our game are so good, so good but now we need to improve on killing games off when we are on top, ” said Rosenior.

“There have been games this season when we have been on top, and we should have more points. The great thing is, I’ve a group that are learning. I’ve got a young group and in the second half – in possession and out of possession – we made mistakes in terms of our positioning.

“That is the gamble you take with young players – they must learn quickly. I have to analyse and help them quickly in terms of understanding. Because if we do get that understanding then I think everyone in the stadium can see the potential in this team today.”

The Tigers could have been out of sight at the break. Scott Twine’s free-kick curled just over the bar and Lions stopper Bart Bialkowski made two good reaction saves as the visitors had the Lions defence on toast every time they countered.

“The frustrating thing for me is that we’ve had so many conversations about this style of play,” said Rosenior. “My first game was here, and we had to dog it out with 10 men – we had to be really organised, structured and disciplined.

“The team is evolving and is getting better but now the next step forward for this team is, when we have that control, we must go and kill that game off. We have to go and score the third and then the fourth – not allow the changes to affect the game in the second half.”

Millwall boss Gary Rowett opted to change formation at the break to 5-3-2 which gave his team a lot more control.

What frustrated the former Derby coach was the fact his team were not brave enough to carry on playing in the same way after they got in front in the game.

“Credit to Gary,” said Rosenior. “He made two changes. He brought on an extra striker and went for it.

“They threw the kitchen sink at us. The reason we didn’t have the same dominance was only because we weren’t brave enough to play in the first phase.

“When it went to 2-2 my group thought we needed to go back to what we were doing before, that’s experience.

“You keep doing the same thing – no matter what the score is. But overall, where we are, the points total isn’t quite where we want it to be – we could have more. At the same time there is so much potential in this team and I’m so happy to be working with them every day.”