'Devastated' Hull City chief Tim Walter has reasons to be optimistic, claims ex-Aston Villa man

Tim Walter cut a frustrated figure after watching his Hull City side beaten 2-1 at home by West Brom on Sunday afternoon as their worrying start to the Championship season took another turn for the worst.

Walter remains under heavy pressure from supporters after just three wins in the opening 15 games of the season, which leaves City teetering on the brink of the relegation zone, only kept outside of it by goal difference.

Former Aston Villa star Lee Hendrie, though, believes Walter will be encouraged by the manner of his side's performance and the way they battled after going 2-0 down inside 20 minutes courtesy of goals from Karlan Grant and Josh Maja.

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Xavier Simons crashed an effort off the bar just after Grant's deflected strike cannoned into the back of City's net via a huge deflection off Alfie Jones before Maja had the freedom of the box to nod in the second.

City did recover and Joao Pedro's brilliant header before the break gave them hope going into the second period. But Regan Slater's close range header was as good as it got for Walter's men, who struggled to force Alex Palmer into serious work, as Albion held on for a first win in nine. Speaking on Sky Sports, Hendrie believes Walter will have been impressed with facets of what he watched.

“You only have to look at the reaction on his (Walter’s) face," the former player said. "He’s devastated, he’s gutted. He knows his team have put a good performance in. Listen, when you’re chasing games early on, you go 2-0, you have to have a response. He got a response from his team, he knows they had chances to get back into the game.”