Hull City 2-2 Preston North End: FLW report as McBurnie brace salvages Tigers draw against Lilywhites | OneFootball

FLW report live from the MKM Stadium for this midweek Championship clash

Hull City mounted a second-half comeback at the MKM Stadium against Preston North End to salvage a point with a 2-2 draw over Paul Heckingbottom's side.

Thierry Small opened his account for North End inside three minutes with a low drive into the bottom corner after a poorly-defended set-piece from Sergej Jakirovic's side, before Michael Smith took full advantage of an extreme Ivor Pandur mishap to make it 2-0 after 10 played.

After their Bosnian coach seemingly read the riot act at the interval, Hull's comeback began as McBurnie turned home from close range after another assist from his left-back Ryan Giles, before the duo linked up with 15 minutes to go as the summer recruit bundled home his seventh for the club in all competitions since signing on a free transfer.

Hull City 2-2 Preston North End

The visitors were looking to build on a four-match unbeaten run, and their lightning-quick start to the encounter was rewarded inside three minutes. Alfie Devine's first corner was only partially cleared into the path of Small, who stepped away from Cody Drameh to slam home his first Lilywhites goal into the bottom-right-hand corner.

It got even better for the Lancashire outfit seven minutes later, although those of a Hull persuasion were left stunned by Pandur's lackadaisical distribution, as the Croatian's pass was intercepted by Ben Whiteman, who played in Smith, who was able to easily slot home into the opposite corner amid a strong chorus of boos inside the home quarters.

Hull were nearly the masters of their own downfall again inside 15 minutes as Devine saw a fierce drive smartly blocked by Charlie Hughes after the Tottenham Hotspur loanee was given plenty of time to burst forward.

The hosts' first half-chance of the evening saw a deep Giles free-kick beaten away by Daniel Iversen on 24 minutes, with the second phase of play coming to no avail, summing up the first quarter of the game for Jakirovic's side.

After the game hit a massive lull, with Preston supporters basking in the glory of their fast start with 'ole's' in the crowd, Hull's distinct lack of quality and urgency in the first half was epitomised two minutes before the break, as the away side broke from a tame Kasey Palmer free-kick, although Small's second attempt of the evening was a comfortable save for Pandur this time round.

Just two minutes into the second half, the home side forged their best move of the match as half-time substitutes Joe Gelhardt and Liam Millar combined before Kyle Joseph headed just over Iversen's net from close range.

Seconds later, a fired-up Tigers side would reduce the arrears as Giles was afforded plenty of space to advance down the left, finding McBurnie with a low ball, with the Scottish international eventually poking his fifth goal of the campaign past the North End keeper.

Momentum was clearly on Hull's side, with Preston thankful for the services of the Danish shot-stopper as Gelhardt almost found the top corner with a speculative free-kick from range.

After somewhat withstanding an early onslaught from the East Yorkshire outfit, Heckingbottom almost saw his men restore a two-goal advantage as Smith looked to poke home his second of the night before being smartly thwarted by McBurnie.

A neat attack from Andrija Vukcevic on the Whites' left flank resulted in a half-chance for Devine after Milutin Osmajic was outmuscled by Charlie Hughes, although the midfielder was unable to find target from the tightest of angles.

An end-to-end half continued on 65 minutes as McBurnie was able to fend off the challenge of Jordan Storey before slipping in Millar, who couldn't convert against his former club on this particular occasion as a fizzing effort was deflected wide.

The game could, and probably should've, been put out of sight with 20 minutes to go as Devine mistimed a bouncing effort from inside the six-yard box in what was his last action of the night.

Preston would rue those missed chances as, 16 minutes from time, the lethal combination of Giles and McBurnie came up trumps once again for the Tigers, with the striker turning home an inch-perfect cross after battling with Liam Lindsay.

Both sides could have made it 3-2 shortly after, with Daniel Jebbison firing an improvised effort over the bar before Millar was sent through by Gelhardt, yet unable to complete the turnaround with a curling effort from the edge of the box.

John Lundstram thought he'd made his way into the Wednesday morning headlines as the deep-lying midfielder eyed up the top corner with seconds remaining, denied by an acrobatic Iversen stop at full stretch.

After a pulsating second period, Hull move up to 16th for the time being, whilst Preston sit in seventh.

FT: Hull City 2-2 Preston North End

Player Ratings

Hull City

Ivor Pandur - 5.5

Lewie Coyle - 6.5

John Egan - 6

Charlie Hughes - 6.5

Ryan Giles - 8 (Famewo 84" - 6)

Amir Hadziahmetovic - 6 (Millar 46" - 6.5)

John Lundstram - 6.5

Cody Drameh - 5.5 (Gelhardt 46" - 6.5)

Kasey Palmer - 5.5 (Slater 46" - 6)

Kyle Joseph - 6 (Destan 72" - 6)

Oli McBurnie - 8

Unused Subs: Dillon Phillips, Semi Ajayi, Darko Gyabi, David Akintola

Preston North End

Daniel Iversen - 6.5

Jordan Storey - 6.5

Liam Lindsay - 6.5

Lewis Gibson - 6

Thierry Small - 7.5

Alfie Devine - 6.5 (McCann 71" - 6.5)

Ben Whiteman - 7.5

Harrison Armstrong - 7 (Frokjaer-Jensen 81" - 6)

Andrija Vukcevic - 6.5 (Offiah 92" - N/A)

Michael Smith - 7.5 (Jebbison 71" - 6)

Milutin Osmajic - 6.5

Unused Subs: Jack Walton, Stefan Thordarson, Theo Carroll, George Gryba, Lewis Dobbin

Hull City vs Preston North End Attendance

The attendance at the MKM Stadium for this Championship game was 18,624.

Sergej Jakirovic reacts as Hull City salvage draw vs Preston

Addressing the media post-match, Jakirovic's thoughts regarding his side's first and second half performances were unsurprisingly contrasting.

"Firstly, we enter the game making two mistakes," he said. "Two shots, 2-0, and we were struggling until half-time with the basics.

"We lost the ball very easily. We didn't do anything in duels, they were much stronger than us. At half-time, I decided to make three substitutions that would bring us energy," the Bosnian claimed.

"As soon as possible, we scored the first goal and it was a completely different game. The three players (Millar, Slater and Gelhardt) gave us lots of energy. We were better in challenges, better on the ball and we tried to spread their defensive line in pockets and half-spaces with Slater and Gelhardt as we didn't have good connections in the first half between our centre-backs and midfielders.

"This is the reason I had to change something," Jakirovic stated. "It was also a very good reaction at half-time to never surrender. Because, when you are 2-0 down, one goal will change everything.

"That was the message and the reaction was perfect."

Paul Heckingbottom's verdict as Preston let 2-0 lead slip at MKM Stadium

After the 90 minutes, Heckingbottom remained largely satisfied with his team's performance despite the obvious frustrations of letting a 2-0 lead slip.

"Overall, it shows how far we've come, yet how far we've still got to go if we want to be a serious team," the North End boss outlined.

"The fact that we're so disappointed having come here shows how far we've come. Give our defenders the situation to defend that, 99 times out of 100, we get it right and that's why we're so disappointed.

"That's how I see the game, but it's not all down to that. In the second half we had more chances again, forced the play and we're on the front foot. Thierry's (Small) getting crosses in that he didn't do in the first half.

"The big, big negative is that we've not won the game," Heckingbottom stated. "That's what we spoke about all of last season: that I want to be coming away from home and winning games. It's that simple, whoever we play, whether that's home or away.

"We've done the hard work, we've quietened the crowd, we've got on top. Then we're managing the game really comfortably with them playing in front of us.