For forty minutes on Saturday, everything was going swimmingly for Hull City, head coach Ruben Selles and the majority of the 22,000 or so inside the MKM Stadium.

City were a goal up, playing some lovely football, creating chances and the home supporters, starved of much joy for the last four years at the MKM Stadium, were purring, on their feet and singing the name of their Spanish manager, but craving the crucial and potentially defining second goal which would never come.

One lapse in concentration two minutes before the break and the landscape changed when Stoke City equalised, and then it came as little surprise when the winner went in 16 minutes from time. After all Stoke enjoy coming to these parts and the only difference about this visit compared to the last three was that they conceded a goal.

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For Sellers, it was another game where his players passed up the chance to back up last Friday's stunning win at Sheffield United and take advantage of everybody else near them dropping points.

It also gave another glimpse as to why they're the fourth-worst team in the league after 30 games because they cannot do it consistently and consistently shoot themselves in the foot, especially in front of their own supporters.

Here, Tigers reporter Barry Cooper tries to make sense of another home game where the Tigers have conspired to blow a great chance...

When will it stop?

Watching Hull City at home is just becoming more and more stressful. At what point do we talk about flattening the stadium and starting again or moving to play elsewhere? We may jest, but two wins in 16 is, by some distance, the worst in the Championship. Even a couple of victories would see the Tigers safely up in mid-table and away from danger, and they'd still have the worst record. It's that bad.

Unfortunately, that isn't happening, and it is something that is having a hugely negative impact on everyone at the club, and it will keep them in a relegation battle right to the very end.

It's also putting huge pressure on their away results because of their inability to get results at home. There's now just seven home games remaining this season, and City probably need to win three or four of them to give themselves a big chance of staying in the league. This wasn't a performance which deserved defeat, but ultimately, the hard luck story cannot continue. They should not have lost to Boro, nor QPR and now this. There are no excuses, they just do not perform consistently at home over the course of 90-plus minutes and do enough to win games of football.

Taking your chances

City were not short of them - 22 at home is a decent effort, but you have to be taking them. Having gone a goal in front and playing well, that was when the Tigers should have built on that lead and gone on and got a second. Instead, they didn't, and Stoke sensed there would be chances and took advantage of the feeling of anxiety in the stadium.

Though this defeat will hurt as much as the rest, and Selles will point to the fact his team played well in patches, their spell at the end of the first and start of the second half was damaging.

Throughout this season, the soft underbelly has been there at home, and Selles must find a way of fixing it; otherwise, for all the good work being done away from home, it will be undone.

Another missed chance

Yet again, they've been unable to back up a good result with another good result. In 30 games so far this season, only once have the Tigers been able to win back-to-back games. For whatever reason, and if we knew the answers, we'd be able to solve the puzzle; they just cannot get any momentum.

We know this season has been a nightmare, and it may well continue to follow that path in the remaining 16 games, but until the players can string a few good results together, they're not going to get away from the threat of relegation. This was a golden opportunity, and they could not pass it up. At some point, between now and the end of the season, if City are to pull away from danger, they're going to have to find some consistency and momentum, and it's on the players to deliver it.

Twenty-four hours to go

The winter window closes at 11pm on Monday night - not that anyone's mentioned it - and before then, City will look to try and get their final bits of business done.

Most fans felt the window had been a good one before the game against Stoke, and that defeat shouldn't cloud the judgement that it's still been productive.

Signing a top-quality full-back would be the icing on the cake or at least one with suitable quality and experience that can give Matty Jacob a run for his money. Again, Jacob had a poor afternoon but shouldn't be hung out to dry because of it. What they don't need is mass panic on the back of that defeat.

City defended brilliantly at Sheffield United, and then in two moments, let themselves down against Stoke and it cost them badly, but again, wholesale changes aren't required there this month, but come the summer, the full-back area on both sides will need to be looked at.

Ten days to digest and recover

Owing to City's apparent new club policy* on not wanting to take part in any domestic cup competitions any more, the Tigers now have a clear weekend without a game, meaning they have a fair chunk of time until the trip to Burnley on Wednesday week.

That time needs to be spent wisely on the training pitch and get the likes of Louie Barry acclimatised to his new surroundings. Having that bedding in period is important, as it still is for Selles, who, let's not forget, is still relatively new in his post, having only taken charge in early December.

He will hope that by the time the trip to Turf Moor comes around, the players will be suitably refreshed and ready to face four games in the best part of two weeks.

*That's meant as a light-hearted comment before we get queries