Hull City 'so close' says Liam Rosenior as late miss lets Leeds United go home with 0-0 draw
Adama Traore missed a cast-iron chance to break the deadlock in the dying stages, but hit it against the post.
It meant the Tigers had to settle for a 0-0 draw at home to a Leeds team who were reduced to 10 men by Joe Rodon's second yellow card after an hour.
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Hide Ad"(We were) so close, so close to beating a very good team," said the Hull coach whose side beat Leicester 1-0 before September's international break. "I felt first half they were the better team, no doubt about it. It happens in the Championship when you play a team of Leeds' quality.
"Second half we were the better team in the 15-minute period before the red card.
"I felt we got to grips with our press and our possession play.
"From the red card onwards it was domination, which it should be. I felt it was two very good teams.
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Hide Ad"I've got to give Leeds credit, they were a credit to Daniel (Farke, the Leeds manager) in terms of the way they defended with 10 men but we kept pushing.
![SO CLOSE: Hull City coach Liam Rosenior](https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/webimg/b25lY21zOjE4Njk5Y2JlLTE0MWYtNGJkMS04N2ZhLTZhZGQ2ODMzOTcxYTo3ZmEyZTI4ZS04YjIzLTRhNzMtYTk3NC01YTEwY2ZhYjZlNzk=.jpg?crop=3:2,smart&width=640&quality=65)
![SO CLOSE: Hull City coach Liam Rosenior](/img/placeholder.png)
"But for a miss from a yard out we go home very happy."
Rosenior thinks his team is on the verge of being a very good one if they can just smooth out the rough edges.
"We are competing with some outstanding teams in this league," he argued. "We've lost one in seven (in the league this season) and I think we've played some of the outstanding teams in the league already.
"We are a very young team and there's moments where it's not belief, it's managing moments – throw-ins, for example, not being in the right position or not marking correctly on a set play.
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Hide Ad"They're 'young' mistakes and you give the flow of the game to the opposition.
"Once we grow as a team and learn from our mistakes we've got some talented players."
Rosenior made a big call before kick-off, handing a debut to goalkeeper Ryan Allsop, who repaid his faith with three big first-half saves.
"I went with my gut," explained Rosenior.
"Matty (Ingram)'s done nothing wrong, he's been outstanding in my time here.
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Hide Ad"There was a moment about three or four minutes in where Ryan with his ability nearly finds Aaron in behind. I knew Leeds would press really high and Ryan's got outstanding ability over long distances to be accurate. That was part of our gameplan.
"If Aaron controls that he's in one for one with the goalkeeper.
"Ryan's an outstanding goalkeeper, Matty's an outstanding goalkeeper and there's a real fight for the shirt."