Hull City again failed to live up to the hype which came their way after Saturday's 1-0 win at Sunderland, losing 1-0 at Cardiff City in a six-pointer at the bottom of the Championship.

Unfortunately, what happened on Tuesday night was not in any way a surprise. As members of the City media pack were heading down the stairwell at the Stadium of Light after Saturday's win, revelling in such a good showing and even better result, there was a moment where there was a collective pause, and in unison, words along the lines of the Tigers would go and lose in South Wales were said in unison.

The chatter in the Cardiff media room pre-match centred on the same topic. While there was hope that Selles' men could back up that result, the overriding feeling was a lack of genuine belief that they were capable of actually doing it when it mattered and when the pressure was on, and so it proved.

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Those opinions aren't formed to be unnecessarily critical or be difficult, negative or anything of that ilk, they're formed after watching 34 league games of the season, and there would have been many fans having similar thoughts because that performance, and more importantly,, that result, came as absolutely no surprise - and that's a damning assessment of this haphazard season.

Going to Sheffield United and Sunderland, at home to Leeds United, there's little expectation. City were playing better teams with better players enjoying completely different seasons, and perhaps because of that level of opposition, there was a different mentality.

Of course, the way those teams played helped the Tigers, but it comes down to mentality. Against Cardiff, the onus was on City to take the game to them, to dominate and show that they can actually dictate a game and turn that possession and dominance into chances, and goals.

It's all very well and good players, staff, media and fans talking up the potential in this squad, but these are the games where it really has to come to the fore and yet again, just as they did against QPR and Stoke City, Selles' players have not delivered, they've buckled under the pressure.

That pressure is only going to increase and if they can't deal with it, the prospect of playing in League One next season will become a very real possibility.

Admittedly, injuries have been a real problem, and the latest prognosis around Eliot Matazo is another kick where it hurts for City, having already seen some serious injury trauma this term.

Selles and his players have had plenty of time to recover before Tuesday night, unlike their opposition, and it's a game that will be billed as the biggest of the season. They must find a way to deal with the pressure and the expectation that will be on their shoulders come kick-off at 7:45pm.

They choked in Wales, but they can not afford to replicate that at the MKM Stadium; otherwise, they will be heading back into the bottom three, and Argyle will be heading back to Devon jumping for joy.