Hull City will “fancy” themselves against any challenge after their impressive 1-0 victory over Coventry City in Saturday’s Premier League clash.
That was the message from Hull talisman Oliver McBurnie after Liam Millar’s 82nd-minute winner kept the Tigers perfect with two wins in as many games.
Hull ceded territory for large parts of the contest at the CBS Arena, with Konstantinos Tzolakis a standout performer in goal, before Mohamed Belloumi teed up Millar’s breakaway finish.
But McBurnie says Hull will stick to their plans after his side became just the fourth instance of a promoted team winning their opening two Premier League games.
“I think the boys have been excellent the last two games,” he said. “Today, we came in with a game plan. We knew Coventry are a good side.
“We played them twice last year; we know what they’re about. We had a gameplan and knew they’d have a lot of the ball.
“We just counted on them boys at the back being confident from wide areas, crossing, defending the box well.”
YOU ‘ULLLLLLL!!!!! pic.twitter.com/ZXA0R2YIjk
— Hull City (@HullCity) August 29, 2026
Tzolakis made one outstanding stop in the first half to deny Taiwo Awoniyi, though Coventry created little other chances of note in their first home Premier League game in 25 years.
Having kept out Manchester United in a 2-0 win last weekend, Tzolakis became the first goalkeeper to manage a clean sheet in a promoted side’s opening two top-flight games since David Raya in 2021-22 (for Brentford).
“‘The Cat [Tzolakis] in goal has been top since he’s come in,” McBurnie said of the Greek goalkeeper. “We fancy ourselves – whether it be a set-piece or a counter-attack.
“I think Liam was a bit disappointed with the first chance he had on the counter, and he showed big cojones to finish the second one off. Really happy for Liam and for the boys today.”
McBurnie may well be right to back Hull. Only three teams have ever been relegated after winning their opening two Premier League games, although the Tigers were one instance in 2016-17.
It is a different story for Frank Lampard, whose side have suffered back-to-back defeats on their return to the top flight, having also lost 3-0 away to champions Arsenal.
Coventry have lost both of their Premier League games this season, with this the first time since April 2023 Lampard has lost consecutive league matches without seeing his side score.
Awoniyi felt Coventry were unfortunate to lose to Hull, believing their tactics helped produce a strong performance.
“The game plan was quite clear, to play with intensity and try to score goals as quickly as possible,” Awoniyi told BBC CWR.
“I think we were unlucky today and I think we were the better side, but unfortunately only the three points count.”
