HULL CITY’S disappointing start to the Championship season continued as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Portsmouth at the MKM Stadium on Saturday.

Joao Pedro’s opener gave the Tigers the lead early on and it looked as though they would push on to just a fourth win of the season.

But when Josh Murphy restored parity just moments into the second half, all their struggles were laid bare.

The Tigers have scored just 14 goals in 12 games, two more than Portsmouth, and the home fans made their feelings known at the end.

Boss Tim Walter admitted that he understood the feelings of the fans after another disappointing result.

“I think everybody is frustrated,” the German said. “I can understand their frustration because we played a really good first half, but the problem was that we didn’t score the second.

“That’s at the moment our biggest problem, that we can’t score more than one goal.

“We have been in the lead three times in the last three games and we’ve had the chance to close the door, but unfortunately we didn’t do it. The players are only human.

“We need to stick together. We want to do it better as well.”

With no wins in a month and pressure building on Walter from Hull’s disgruntled supporters, they needed a fast start.

That’s exactly what they got: Pedro found the net with a well-placed finish into the bottom corner at 11 minutes.

Portsmouth almost levelled before the half-hour mark, but a fingertip save from Ivor Pandur denied Callum Lang.

Clever footwork from Gustavo Puerta opened up an opportunity for Hull’s second of the game, but he was denied by Nicolas Schmid’s save from a tight angle.

Hull were made to pay for failing to double their lead immediately after the break.

Murphy fired home from inside the area just seconds from the kick off and the away fans behind the goal went wild.

For the home faithful it was a familiar tail of angst and frustration.

The mood in the stands changed, as did the pattern of the game. There was no zip or energy from Hull in attack, while Portsmouth sensed blood — ultimately to no avail.

There is a pattern developing at Hull. After going to close in the play-off chase last season, they chose to sack manager Liam Rosenior and replace him with Walter. 

Owner Acun Ilicali was a popular figure after arriving to end the previous ownership’s reign, which saw the club fall into League One.

But it is hard to argue he hasn’t made a monumental error of judgement here.