International break comes at the right time for Hull boss Sergej Jakirovic

Sergej Jakirovic welcomed the upcoming international break after injury-hit Hull retained their position in the Sky Bet Championship play-off picture with a 3-1 victory at home to Sheffield Wednesday.

Jakirovic’s side are three points ahead of seventh-placed Wrexham after they came from behind to secure an ultimately straightforward victory.

The Hull head coach said: “Everyone was expecting three points (for Hull), but I knew it would be a tough game as they are aggressive, dangerous on the counter-attack and difficult to break down.

“I’m very pleased with the boys. We left everything on the pitch because it was not easy.

“We will us this break for mental and physical recovery. We have played so many games with our problems and our injuries so they deserve this rest.

“We hope the international players come back healthy and then we have seven games. We must be ready for every one of the them – and we will be.”

“But for seven days I don’t want to see anyone. I will go back to Croatia, but I will not be able to switch off from football.”

Hull fell behind on 23 minutes when Jamal Lowe broke clear after Oli McBurnie and John Egan both failed to clear their lines.

Matt Crooks equalised 60 seconds later when he was teed up by player-of-the-match Kyle Joseph.

Paddy McNair’s free-kick deep into first-half stoppage times was headed into the back of his own net by Dominic Iorfa, after which Joseph coolly slotted home Hull’s third on 58 minutes.

Jakirovic said: “The first 20 to 25 minutes, it was not easy to find gaps between the lines.

“It was maybe pressure and maybe a difficult pitch, but Sheffield Wednesday are aggressive and are clearly still fighting for each other.

“After they scored, we were much sharper and then the second goal was very important just before the break – especially for our mental strength.

“It was three great points. In the first half they were very compact, but we had far better balance in the second half.

“We had great opportunities in the second half and we controlled everything after the break.

“Every time we play it’s about the results, no matter what – nobody cares about impressions, it’s about results.

“When I look back, I think we deserve to be in the play-offs because we have had problems since day one, but you need also to have a bit of luck in some games.

“We will fight until the end.”

Counterpart Henrik Pedersen was proud of his players, but accepted Hull’s second goal was the turning point in the game.

He said: “We were top in the first half – I think we competed at a very high level.

“One of the reasons they are in the top six as that they are so strong in transition and high on the press – I think we handled that in a good way.

“We want to play with risks, but at the same time we had to think about defending against Hull in transition.

“It was a big theme before the game, and in many of the situations we handled it really well, but we were not good enough in two of the situations and that led to two goals.

“After their equaliser we came back strong, but to concede an own goal like that was tough for the boys.”

Pedersen added: “In the second half I think we had more good opportunities in transition, but at 3-1 it was difficult.

“The boys kept on trying and we showed we can compete in many ways, but it also showed we have a lot more to learn.

“It hurts, but the reaction from the boys with how we came back in the game showed me that they never give up.

“They put everything on the pitch what they were able to do.”