Tuesday night's 1-0 defeat at Cardiff City was dismal in so many ways for Hull City, who had been buoyed again by a terrific away win at a promotion-chasing team.

Frustratingly for everyone, just as they had done after the fine win at Sheffield United, City produced an insipid display against poor opposition to lose. After the success at Bramall Lane, they lost to Stoke City and afforded a poor Potters team a leg up in the relegation battle, and they did exactly the same for the Bluebirds, who must have thought it was Christmas with what was served up in front of them.

All they had to do was sit on the edge of their box and then wait for the mistakes to come and try to take advantage; low and behold, they did. It was predictably predictable. The fact the goal came from a stupid free-kick concession, a goalkeeper flapping like a seal instead of catching a tame free-kick and then a calamitous inability to clear a cross and pick up the only striker inside the box to deliver a deflected volley into the back of the net summed up the pitiful nature of this disastrous season.

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Nobody taking responsibility for the one moment in the game which ultimately decided an encounter which would not have looked out of place in a training session where both sides were told they couldn't go within 20 metres of the goal.

It's enough to make you want to bang your head repeatedly against a brick wall and then give up ever watching football again, and take up knitting.

At least before Tuesday night, City were averaging a goal a game. Albeit pitiful, at least there was a cute symmetry and with a blank in the Principality, that's now been taken away - another example of their major struggles and something that has to be rectified in the summer, irrespective of what division they're in.

The challenge for Selles, now, is to find a way to break these teams down. It's all well and good against the better sides who are prepared to have a go, and you can play on the counter attack, but Plymouth, Luton, Derby, Oxford, et all will have seen that and deploy similar tactics, especially at the MKM Stadium where City have been a shambles.

Plymouth will camp deep on Tuesday night; they'll be happy for City to knock the ball from side to side between defence and midfield and then wait for the moment to counter and play for that error.

They'll also be acutely aware of the wretched home record this season. Only Carlisle and Morecambe - the EFL's two worst teams have inferior home records to the Tigers, and Argyle, like everyone else coming to the MKM Stadium in the remainder of the season, will know how to exploit that fear and nervousness.

Selles, in finding a way to try and break low-block teams down, must get his players to be braver, to be direct, and, if need be, go a bit longer and play further up the pitch. They've got to be prepared to mix things up, go off-piste if required and try something different because little on their own turf has worked so far.

Their Championship future depends on it. Tuesday night's result was not terminal for City. They still have a gap, albeit a slender one, but the teams below them are awful, especially Derby County and Luton Town, and they have to start taking points off those around them, something they're finding increasingly difficult.

They're not the only ones in the mire, and there will be plenty more twists and turns over the next 12 games, but Selles must now find a way to crack an increasingly difficult code.