Hull City's brief dalliance with victory was ended after one game, with the Tigers beaten 1-0 at Preston North End on Boxing Day in a game low on quality in the final third. City should have gone in front after five minutes, but Regan Slater blazed over the bar from close range after a Joao Pedro shot was saved. And they were punished on the hour when the Lillywhites opened the scoring through Brad Potts' clinical finish.
It was a game there for the taking and one they failed to take anything from because of their own failings. The Tigers probably deserved something from the contest. However, their ongoing troubles in front of goal were evident again as a host of bright moments in the final third came to nothing, and now, they return to the bottom three, two points adrift of safety having been a point clear after that morale-boosting success before Christmas .
If the win over Swansea offered plenty of confidence, this was a result which showed there remains an awful lot of work for Ruben Selles to do to drag City away from trouble with one final game to come before 2024 comes to an end. In truth, it can't come soon enough. Selles made two changes from the winning side against Swansea City on Saturday, with match-winner Mason Burstow coming in for just a third start of the season and first since the defeat to West Brom on November 10, at the expense of Abu Kamara, while there was no Charlie Hughes, with his place going to Sean McLoughlin.
City, backed by a noisy away following.
