Hull City’s woeful run of form continued in South East London on Saturday with a 2-1 defeat at Charlton Athletic, which helped secure their Championship status – but doesn’t help the Tigers at all

Oliver McBurnie looked dejected after defeat at The Valley

Hull City needed a performance and result at Charlton Athletic on Saturday afternoon, and Sergej Jakirovic’s men delivered neither, losing 2-1 at a sundrenched Valley.

A desperate first half was only saved by John Egan’s equalising header on the stroke of the break to drag them level, cancelling out Charlie Kelman’s stunning opener.

Despite dominating the second half, City rarely looked like finding the winner which then came from Jayden Fevrier midway through the second period. To top matters off, City lost the returning Eliot Matazo inside the opening 10 minutes to another knee injury.

Here, City reporter Barry Cooper looks back on a forgetful afternoon at The Valley…

JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! Latest Hull City news and analysis on our Hull Live FB page

They haven’t blown it, yet

Whatever happened at Charlton, the tussle for the top six would always go down to the final day. City will know what’s required after the Wrexham game at Coventry, but above all else, they need to win a game of football.

And in truth, they haven’t looked like winning a game of football too many times in the past month. It’s that run of form that may well ultimately cost them a place in the top six, one that looked nailed on only a few games ago.

City have one more chance. Realistically, they’ll need to beat Norwich City to have any real hope.

A big call

And it didn’t pay off. Matazo was down inside a few minutes, and it immediately looked serious given the way he flopped to the floor, and his teammates were quick to call for help. Despite playing on after doing some shuttle runs on the side of the pitch, Matazo came back on and passed the ball once before leaving the field.

He looked utterly forlorn as he trudged in front of the City fans and back to the City dugout. He had barely lasted 10 minutes, and in truth, half of that was spent either on the floor or off the pitch.

You just have to hope for his sake more than anything else that it’s not a ligament injury in his opposite knee, because that would be devastating, and we wish him well.

The midfield issues

The fact that Jakirovic felt the need to play a player who hadn’t appeared in 14 months showed yet again how much he’s battled with trying to find the right balance and blend this season.

Regan Slater has been outstanding, but wasn’t deemed fit enough to start the game, so Matazo got the nod. With Toby Collyer and Amir Hadziahmetovic out injured for the season, John Lundstram still feeling his way back to fitness, Jakirovic opted to go with Matazo.

The Belgian’s injury rocked City, and they never really recovered. The midfield wasn’t dominant enough, and lacked the incisive quality to create really clear-cut chances. Finding the right blend this summer will be absolutely crucial heading into next season.

And then there was one

After forty-five games, City’s latest Championship campaign comes down to one final game at home to Norwich City on Saturday lunchtime.

The Tigers have enjoyed a really good season, albeit one that’s fallen off the edge of a cliff in the past month and one that threatens to end in abject disappointment.

After a couple of seasons playing away on the final day, it’ll be nice to sign off the campaign at the MKM Stadium, and we all know final days of the season can conjure up some strange, unlikely moments.

A year ago

It might come as little consolation given the opportunity City have allowed to pass them by, but on this weekend last season, City had just lost 1-0 at home to Derby County. That result saw them fall into the bottom three ahead of the final weekend.

Twelve months on, City have fallen out of the top six and are looking up at those above them. It would be the most Hull City thing ever to be out of the top six going into the final day, and end it inside it.

The Tigers are in a far, far better position than they were 12 months ago, and they can still end the season brightly on their home ground next Saturday.

Here at Hull Live, we are dedicated to bringing you the best Hull City coverage and analysis. Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group.

You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe. You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.