Hull City manager admits his side were a "bit lucky" with penalty and red card decisions as Portsmouth draw 'feels like defeat'

Hull City boss Tim Walter admitted his side were fortunate to be on the right side of some controversial refereeing decisions against Portsmouth on Saturday afternoon.

Pompey boss John Mousinho expressed his frustration after the 1-1 draw, as he felt his team should have had two penalties following challenges on Callum Lang and Kusini Yengi. He also believed Hull should have been reduced to 10 men when Matt Ritchie was hauled down while heading towards goal. On the officiating, Hull boss Walter said: “We had in the last few games a lot of situations that were not on our side so maybe we were a bit lucky today.”

Joao Pedro put the home side ahead with a goal in the 11th-minute but Josh Murphy was on hand to score the equaliser and secure a point for Pompey. Hull were booed off by a section of their fans after Pompey delivered a much-improved performance in the second half. The Tigers finished just outside the play-offs last term but are just three points above the relegation zone after 13 games.

Walter continued: “I think everybody is frustrated. I can understand. We played a really good first half but the problem was that we did not score the second. The players are human and it can happen that you really try to play forward but you lose in some critical situations.

“We need to stick together. We want to do better. All we want to do is create a good mood, a good family. It’s not always possible. We need our fans so much. Sometimes it’s not possible and they have to understand. I could not understand it sometimes as well. But they are all humans and they want to do it better. We can learn out of this situation and these mistakes.

“Together everything is easier – that’s what I said to my boys. We behave as a team and as a family and then everything is easier. That’s what we need and therefore we need our fans as well. To be honest it feels like a defeat. We wanted to do better but unfortunately we couldn’t in the second half.”