Hull City: Blackpool and Steve Bruce will agree with Ruben Selles defence of £2.5m man | OneFootball

Kyle Joseph is yet to score for the Tigers after his January move

Unsurprisingly, Hull City's defeat to Luton Town on Saturday was the root cause of mass frustration from supporters in East Yorkshire, as the Hatters ended a strong run of form put together prior to the international break.

After defeating fellow relegation rivals Oxford United and Plymouth Argyle at the MKM Stadium, there was a sense of optimism that the Tigers could pull further away from the relegation trap door. But, a comical Alfie Jones own-goal after 13 seconds of the second period summed up what went wrong for Ruben Selles' men in a nutshell.

One of the key factors behind such an inconsistent season has been City's inability to find the back of the net on a regular basis, averaging exactly one goal per game across 39 Championship outings, and echoed by the fact that January addition Joe Gelhardt is currently on the same goal tally (3) as winter departee, Chris Bedia, which is currently the joint third-highest goal return at the MKM Stadium.

It was no secret that Selles looked to alter such fortunes in January, and that was proven when FLW first broke the news that the East Yorkshire side had plotted a move to sign Blackpool forward, Kyle Joseph, before eventually securing the 23-year-old's signature for a reported £2.5m.

The former Swansea City man was loved by former Tigers boss, Steve Bruce, during the first half of the season at Bloomfield Road. Therefore, the 63-year-old and Tangerine Army would definitely back up Selles' prediction that Joseph can break his duck in Black and Amber sooner rather than later, having failed to score in his first 11 games.

Joseph was able to lead the line strongly against Sheffield United as Hull stunned the league leaders with a 3-0 rout at Bramall Lane on debut, before going on to have mixed fortunes in the early stages of his career in HU3.

Prior to the completion of his move across the Pennines, the frontman had netted seven times for the Seasiders in 24 League One appearances as well as two assists, making a strong impression on Bruce, who took charge of the Lancashire outfit in September.

"He’s everything I like in a football player, he gives everything he’s got. I’m delighted to have worked with him, he’s a smashing lad," Bruce said ahead of the January deal.

Since then, Selles has opted to utilise Joseph from the off in nine of his 11 appearances in Black and Amber, stating at the time of his move that the new signing had the ability to feature through the middle or out wide, which added further versatility to City's new-look attacking ranks alongside Gelhardt.

After a handful of appearances on the left flank, Joseph was seen as the focal point of Hull's attack against Luton, but was starved of any high-quality service in the first period.

His final action of note saw him fail to latch onto a threaded through-ball from Kasey Palmer on the hour mark, which could, and ultimately should, have levelled the scores between the relegation rivals.

Selles' decision to replace the striker with Matt Crooks on 65 minutes was met by ironic jeers in some sections of the home support, with the former Southampton boss quick to defend his colleague.

"It's always difficult in the striker position when you don't find those goals or don't even find the situation where you can put the ball in the net. The pressure is coming for every striker in this league and for every striker in the world in the position, and he needs to understand," he said via Hull Live.

"I don't let myself define those situations by the final end product. Obviously, he knows that he needs to be consistent on that, and he's working on it, and yes, I'm pretty sure that his moment will arrive.

"He just needs to persist in his idea, persist in the things that he does, and then the next time that the ball will go to the net, use it as a booster to really release his performance, his power, his ability," the 43-year-old added.

Whilst Joseph's confidence is likely to have improved following the backing of the Spanish head coach, the upcoming clash against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough will present Selles with a selection headache with the return of Joao Pedro from suspension.

The Italian-Brazilian has been an inspired piece of business on a free transfer, with Selles getting the best out of the 32-year-old, who was initially signed by Tim Walter, and it being constantly evident why the striker has featured at high levels for the most part of a lengthy and established career.

Pedro had also registered an assist against Plymouth as well as a goal of fine quality against Bristol City last month, with his sublime turn and finish coming just two minutes before his red card at Ashton Gate, leading to a now extinguished three-game absence.

On Saturday, the recently in-form Gelhardt was moved back into a wide left position for the first half, with the Leeds United loanee finding plenty of joy against former Tiger, Reece Burke. But, with his recent run of goalscoring form coming from a more central position, it creates an added dilemma on top of whether Joseph will feature from the start against the Owls ahead of the returning Pedro.