Sunderland fell to their first league home defeat of the season against Hull City

Rubén Sellés praised his Hull City players for coming out on top in an 'equal' game with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland started brightly but went behind when Anthony Patterson turned Joe Gelhardt's corner into his own net. The Black Cats missed a couple of big opportunities in the second half but were frustrated by Hull's defensive discipline as they fell to their first home league defeat of the campaign.

Sellés also praised Gelhardt for his 'exceptional' delivery for the goal, which almost yielded a second shortly afterwards.

"Today, we came here with the clear intention to win the game; the boys did a fantastic job," Selles said.

"When you come into a scenario like that today, first of all, you need to show character by being in possession, being good defensively and then because of the quality of the opponents sometimes, as we had in the last 10 minutes, you need to defend a little bit lower. I think we played all the phases of the game, and we did a brilliant job.

"You need to try to apply the pressure as high as possible, try to keep them away from your goal and win some balls to make your own transition. Secondly, try to take the ball in some of the moments. We talk about having around 40% (possession) if you want to be successful in those spaces.

“It’s not only about the percentage of taking the ball, it’s how you use that with the diagonal lines, trying to find space, trying to combine.

"If you give away the first goal, it is always more difficult, but I think the boys' application was brilliant from the very beginning.

We were a threat today coming here, and that first goal can happen in many ways. It happened with the deflection from the goalkeeper, but the kick from Joffy (Gelhardt's nickname) was exceptional. We tried to put them under pressure in different ways, and I think we did it.

"It was an equal game where I think the opponent was as good as we were. We closed those situations, and in the key moments, they didn't get it, and then we got it. We also have a couple of moments where we can get another one. It's the Championship. It's competitive and you need to be ruthless.

"Every goal going into your goal against you, then you know that means that you need to score two, and if you can keep the team defending in the way that we do it, especially away from home, then we will be in a good place."

Sellés also said that he was hopeful that Louie Barry had not suffered a serious injury, after he left the pitch in the first half in visible distress. The Aston Villa loanee, who was linked with a move to Sunderland in January, will be assessed further but the initial signs are positive.

"We don’t know yet but the scan is pretty positive," he said.

"We have to wait a bit.”

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