Birmingham manager Garry Monk admitted his side failed to cope with Hull changing their formation at half-time as they let a two-goal lead slip and had to battle for a 3-3 draw at St Andrew’s.
Birmingham had led their previous game at Derby before losing 3-1 and had to settle for a point on Saturday as Hull hit them with three goals after the break.
Che Adams scored twice in the first half and completed his hat-trick with a last-gasp equaliser after a Fraizer Campbell brace and a Kamil Grosicki free-kick looked set to earn struggling Hull a valuable victory.
A disappointed Monk said: “The first half was where you want to be. I know they will be disappointed with where they were in the first half. I felt we were comfortable.
“Second half was not good at all. That 25-minute period was the exact opposite of what we expect. We warned the players at half-time. We did not focus, especially when the first goal went in.
“Unfortunately we have done that in the last two games, two second-half performances where something has gone against us and we haven’t dealt with it in the right way.
“They changed their shape and they went very direct. We got out-competed in that second half.”
Adams gave Birmingham a 2-0 half-time lead as he punished mistakes in defence by the visitors.
The striker pounced on a short back pass from defender Tommy Elphick to round David Marshall and tap in.
The home side were two goals to the good when a square ball from Jordy de Wijs found Adams and he ran at the Hull defence before shooting into the bottom corner.
But Hull grabbed the lead after the break as the visitors opted to go more direct.
Campbell struck twice, shooting in from close range from a low Grosicki cross before following up when Lee Camp could only parry Grosicki’s shot.
The winger then fired in a free-kick to put Hull ahead, but Adams completed his hat-trick with a shot through a crowded area late on to snatch Birmingham a point.
Hull head coach Nigel Adkins admitted his team had handed the first two goals to the home side, but praised his players for bouncing back.
He said: “We gifted them two goals. We changed the formation in the second half and I thought our lads were superb. We really had a go, we showed desire and commitment to get back in the game.”
Adkins salutes his goal-scorers who got his team back into the game.
He said: “Campbell is grafting hard to get in good positions. And Kamil scored a good free-kick.
“At the very end we’ve conceded, our defender has gone to clear the ball and mis-kicked it and Adams has scored.
“We have come away from home against an in-form side. Let’s be positive, we have got something positive from the game.”
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