Hull boss Phil Brown blames linesman and Everton's Tim Cahill

"It was always going to be difficult, but the first goal was key to anything we got and we have been unhinged.

"As a right-back looking along the lines and seeing him offside, I would have screamed at the linesman big style.

"Is that the right way to go? I don't think it is, but the players have got to hold their hands up and accept that the decisions we aren't getting at the moment are there for everyone to see.

"The last three games, we have been done by poor officials.

"I have a group of players down there who have been kicked in the proverbials, week in week out, after putting in the shifts that they are putting in.

"They are not getting their just rewards and that affects confidence. Results affect confidence, so we need to turn the corner and get the rub of the green."

Brown spent much of the game sarcastically clapping referee Martin Atkinson from the sidelines.

But after the game he turned on Cahill rather than the official.

"I'll take my hat off to Martin because it was a difficult game out there in the second half - it became a bit of a battle," said Brown.

"The first three free-kicks, Tim Cahill is not even looking at the ball. He has assaulted, for want of a better word, my two centre-halves.

"They are down there, both with bloodied noses and one of them has stitches over his eye.

"It was always going to be tough, though, because we were battling for everything.

"But you just need a bit of support from the officials and I am after the big decisions - not the minor ones.

"The major decisions are suddenly going against us and I have no idea why.

"We have asked the referee after the game to have a look at the first goal, and they are refusing.

"So we are waiting for the verdict on Match of the Day.

"It just kills us.

"The first goal was two yards offside, the linesman is looking right down the line. Why is he not flagging?

"We have been done in front of the Kop by Alan Wiley and now done here by the linesman."