'Stick it down your throat' - Liam Rosenior pays Preston North End credit in Hull City draw verdict

Hull City boss Liam Rosenior was pleased with the way his side stood up to Preston North End's threat in Saturday's 0-0 draw.

The Lilywhites were prevented from going level on points with the sixth placed Tigers. Chances came the way of both play-off pushing sides, over the course of the 90 minutes. And PNE saw strong appeals for a penalty turned down in the second half. Reflecting post-match, Rosenior headed back up the road content with his side's point.

"Hard fought, physical, winter battle," said Rosenior. "I am delighted with the players' attitude and feel we could've had a bit more calmness in our play - which is hard to do, when you come away to a team who play in a way that makes it really difficult to get rhythm in the game. If we'd have taken advantage of the moments we had, we could've come away with a win but the players are giving me everything. It's a game, I think, we possibly could've lost earlier in the season. The restarts, long-throws, set plays - the players stood up to it really, really well.

"There is a lot on the line. We have to remember Preston are in great form. Yould sense, in the stadium, the energy of the team - what a big game it was for them, to try and push up towards us. I felt, after the first 10 or 15 minutes of both halves - which you have to see out - we played our football, controlled the game and looked like a real threat. The game plan was to try and make it our game. I played with three midfield players, because I think you need another one to try and deal with their direct play - and try and win second balls, to settle the game.

"We worked, all week, on getting pressure at the top end of the pitch to stop the ball coming in to our box. We tried to control the game by making it our game - and it's a brave thing for them to try and do: take the ball down and not just kick it back, so it becomes a fight. If we make the game a fight against big, physical, strong, aggressive teams like Preston - that is not our game and that is not our strength.

"We made mistakes trying to do it, but when we did do it we opened the game up. We just couldn't get the goal I think our player deserved. I felt the wide areas (is where we'd get chances) - on transition. Because they leave three at the back and two up the pitch at all times. I felt we needed to switch the play a bit more. We came to one side, because we wanted to score - which is great. We didn't show the patience, to get to the other side of the pitch - where our overload was. Credit to Ryan (Lowe) man, they are a really difficult team to play against.

"If you see the results they've had here, against top teams, they make it difficult. We knew, coming here, they'd have a really strong game plan and try stop us getting into our flow. Preston have a great home record and what I was really pleased with, was our calmness. Let's be honest, Preston are a really good team at what they do. They get the ball in the box early and play long. They look for second balls and stick it back down your throat. I have seen teams wilt under that pressure. We didn't today and that's really pleasing."