Nigel Adkins insisted his Hull side have the quality and character to climb out of the Championship relegation zone after Famara Diedhiou’s stoppage-time winner left them four points adrift of safety.

The manager refused to be downcast after the 1-0 defeat to Bristol City –  a game his side had chances to win – and made it clear he still has complete faith in his squad.

He said: “I am not hiding from where we are in the table and I understand that it will be highlighted by the fans and media.

“But if we keep doing the same things our position will improve. The supporters who travelled saw a committed display and we just needed to take our chances.

“We have been playing consistently well against some top sides and there is no shortage of character among the players.

“Tonight we could have been ahead in the first couple of minutes when the Bristol keeper has made a fantastic save and we just couldn’t take one of the opportunities we created.

“We had to reorganise because of injuries and I thought the players concerned did really well. It’s important that we keep believing in ourselves.

“I can’t ask for more in terms of effort, but of course we need to turn performances into points as soon as possible.”

Diedhiou headed home from 10 yards after Hull goalkeeper David Marshall, brilliant for most of the game, had parried a Matty Taylor shot early in the seven minutes of stoppage time.

It had been added mainly for a second-half head injury suffered by Hull centre-back Jordy De Wijs.

Bristol had hit a post through Josh Brownhill in the first half but head coach Lee Johnson said: “I think Hull are entitled to feel hard done by because both sides had chances.

“My young team played with a lot of maturity and kept going to the end. Max O’Leary has made a great save early on, but David Marshall made an unbelievable one in the second half and we probably edged it.

“Where we can improve is in looking after the ball better in the final third. But I couldn’t be happier with the progress we are making.

“I knew it would be a tough match because Hull have a lot more quality than their position in the table suggests.

“In the end Matty Taylor has been really bright as a substitute and set up the winning goal.

“He had a chance to score a second right at the death and I had a go at him for not finding the back of the net because by then my heart-rate was sky high!”