Former Aston Villa midfielder hails Hull City star as Tigers spark season into life
Tim Walter’s men impressed with their second half turnaround at the bet365 Stadium
Former Aston Villa player Lee Hendrie has hailed the impact of Liam Millar and Regan Slater after the pair played a pivotal role in helping Hull City come from a goal down to beat Stoke City 3-1 on Friday night.
Without a win anywhere since April 24, City looked to be on course for a third straight loss in the Championship when Ben Wilmot crashed in a first half header, and it took until just after the hour for Tim Walter’s men to finally find a goal.
Kasey Palmer’s penalty was saved by goalkeeper Viktor Johansson before he nodded in the rebound, and then Millar turned provider for Slater to slam in the second before Palmer’s tight cross squirmed in off Wilmot and then Johnasson two minutes later to complete the turnaround and seal a huge win for Walter.
It was the half-time arrival of Millar for the injured Omur which made a big difference for City, while Slater’s introduction just before the hour along with Xavier Simons added further to their dominance, and that impressed Hendrie.
“I thought Hull were excellent in the second half, they came out with a renewed purpose in their play,” Hendrie said. “The change in personnel – Liam Millar was at the heart of breaking that down, his pass that’s tried to play through the eye of the needle for me, but credit to Liam Millar, look the run here (Belloumi on the outside), it’s absolutely brilliant, it’s what I talk about good wide players making little runs that just occupy two players and it all opens up for Regan Slater.