Dawson calls on Hull to hit back after Spurs defeat

Defender Andy Dawson admits Hull cannot afford to dwell on their latest setback after a disappointing start to a crucial week. The Tigers were beaten 2-1 by Tottenham on Monday night in the first of three home games in the space of six days.

Phil Brown must quickly lift his side for the visit of Sheffield United in an FA Cup fifth-round replay tomorrow before Blackburn travel to the KC Stadium for a six-pointer on Sunday.

Victory over Spurs in a game that, although scrappy, featured chances aplenty would have lifted Hull nine points clear of the relegation zone but Dawson did not want to lament missed chances. "I think if we'd have won it would have given us a little bit of daylight but it wasn't to be," said the 30-year-old left-back. "We have got to pick ourselves up now. We have got two more massive games this week."

Hull were undone with just four minutes remaining when Jonathan Woodgate headed firmly past Matt Duke. Spurs had led after 17 minutes when Aaron Lennon struck a sublime opener from 20 yards but Hull battled back through Michael Turner five minutes later. "We proved in the first half we have the ability to play against a very good team," said Dawson. "We limited them to very few chances but we have got to do it for 90 minutes."

Defeat has placed extra emphasis on the weekend match against Blackburn. "We need some points from that game," added Dawson. "It is a massively important time of the season. We have got to start getting points."