, Adkins takes positives from heavy FA Cup defeat to Chelsea

Adkins takes positives from heavy FA Cup defeat to Chelsea

Hull City manager Nigel Adkins focused on the positives after his side crashed out the Emirates FA Cup with a 4-0 defeat to Chelsea.

The Sky Bet Championship side were behind within 90 seconds as Brazillian Willian curled beyond David Marshall from 25-yards.

Pedro doubled the Premier League side’s lead midway through the first half, latching onto Cesc Fabregas’ superb through ball before slotting underneath Marshall.

Willian grabbed his second of the evening and Chelsea’s third as he drilled Olivier Giroud’s pass into the bottom corner. Giroud added a fourth three minutes before the break, stabbing Emerson Palmieri’s cross in at the near post to bring a climax to Chelsea’s dominant first half performance.

But the Tigers came out for the second half rejuvinated and came close to getting a consolation goal, however David Meyler watched Willy Caballero save his penalty-kick.

Speaking after the game, boss Adkins admitted his disappointment following the first half. He said: “We came with a game plan and within a couple of minutes it’s out of the window.

“We gifted them the opportunities to score goals in the first half and you saw how good their players are when you’re up close and personal. We allowed them too much ball in the first half.

“I was calm at half-time. I told the players this wasn’t the situation we wanted to be in but we tweaked one or two things and improved. Yes, they took their foot off the gas, but we were much better in the second half and my players deserve credit for that.

“They were staring down the barrel at 4-0 – and it could have gone the other way. But what they did in the second half was what we were hoping to do in the first half.

“The second half was a different story, although it was game over. We kept the ball and built things. We should have scored some goals.

“But the disappointment is the first half. We stood off them too much and didn’t get close enough to them. We let some talented players demonstrate how good they are.”

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