Robert Snodgrass only had 30 minutes in the tank, says Hull boss Mike Phelan
Sunday 6 November 2016 18:01, UK
Robert Snodgrass, who produced a man-of-the-match display in Hull City's 2-1 win against Southampton at the KCOM Stadium on Sunday, only "had 30 minutes in the tank", according to his manager Mike Phelan.
The Scotland international was making his comeback after an ankle problem, but was only fit enough to take his place on the substitutes' bench.
However, Phelan was forced to introduce Snodgrass earlier than intended after a nasty-looking knee injury forced Will Keane off midway through the first half.
The enforced change turned the game on its head, though, as the midfielder firstly drew the Tigers level just past the hour-mark, before then creating their winner for captain Michael Dawson only 125 seconds later.
"I thought he [Snodgrass] would have 30 minutes in the tank because he was the same as [Dieumerci] Mbokani, they have just joined into the training sessions really in the last 48 hours," said Phelan
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"And going into a Premier League game with that behind you is not ideal. So it was a case of, can we bring them on at some point? We did not really want to bring them on that early, but when you lose two of your most important players in such a short space of time, it can be a real hardship for the team.
"But they stood up to the task and once we got the first goal, I always thought we were in the game."
The Hull boss was particularly delighted with the character his players showed in recovering from going behind to Charlie Austin's sixth-minute penalty, ending a run of six straight Premier League defeats in the process.
"What I felt today was similar to what I felt at the start of the season," Phelan said. "We galvanised everybody because we only had so many players available. And they really, really worked hard and looked forward to the start of the season.
"And we got a similar performance today, but we had that last week. We were really unlucky last week and we have been on the back of a couple of good hidings as well.
"But we have kept true to ourselves and we are trying to find our way through this and we are trying to encourage the players to play with confidence.
"We won't get it right all the time, but when we do and we show character and determination, we feel like we can win football matches."
