Former Crystal Palace and Cardiff City boss Neil Warnock has slammed Semi Ajayi’s defending during Hull City’s 4-1 loss to Middlesbrough in the EFL Championship, SportPremi reports.
The Tigers missed the chance to move into the playoff position when they were defeated 4-1 at home by the second-placed Middlesbrough last Friday.
Super Eagles defender Semi Ajayi, who had opened scoring in the 2-1 win over Stoke City in their previous outing was at fault for two of the visitors goals as his side suffered a seventh defeat of the season.
It was the 32-year-old’s seventh start since joining Hull City on a free transfer in the summer after his contract had expired at league rivals West Bromwich Albion.
The clash was delayed for 15 minutes due to weather condition, but the visitors totally took control of matters when it later kicked off.
It was an utterly dominant first half performance by the visitors who scored four un-replied goals to take a four-goal advantage into the break.
David Strelec, Alex Gilbert, Morgan Whittaker and Riley McGree all got on the scoresheet in one of the most dominant showings this season.
The home side got their consolation through Joe Gelhardt who converted a spot-kick in the second half as the match finished 4-1 in favor of the visitors.
Middlesbrough remain second on the standings with 36 points, seven behind first-placed Coventry City, while Hull City are ninth with 28 points.
Warnock slams poor Hull City defending
While reacting to the results in a recent interview, Neil Warnock was critical of Hull City’s poor defensive performance in the disappointing defeat.
The 77-year-old however praised the impact of manager Sergej Jakirovic, who has brought improvement to a club that battled relegation in the previous campaign.
“He’s talking about natural defenders, I’m just thinking of the players that I’ve had under me over the years. When you look at me on YouTube going daft”, Warnock admitted.
“The second goal, he’s got to put it in the stand. Every one of the centre halves that’s played for me will have laughed at that and said the gaffer will go berserk.
“Put it in the stand; he can’t score. He tries to keep it in play. They all think they’re Manchester City now, don’t they.”
On the manager’s impact
“He’s the manager of the season,” Warnock continued.
“Before a ball was kicked, if you’d have said Hull were where they are now, you’d have thought Hull had been towards the bottom end.
“He’s done a great job to be where they are with the squad he’s got. You shouldn’t get down, though, the manager, cos he’s done a good job getting them.
“If they’d have won, they’d have gone third in the league. That’s unbelievable what he’s done”, he concluded.
Semi Ajayi is expected to miss the next few matches for the Tigers, as he will represent Nigeria at the 2025 African Cup of Nations in Morocco, which commences on the 21st of this month.
