Hull City skipper Ian Ashbee insists manager Phil Brown's public berating of the players at halftime of their defeat to Manchester City has been accepted by the squad.

"I don't think it caused a problem," he insists. "It's the manager's prerogative to do that. If you can't take a little bit of criticism you shouldn't be a professional footballer."

Having played in all four divisions for Hull, Ashbee boasts a healthy sense of proportion about this most chameleon of seasons.

"I'm not concerned," he told the Observer. "We're on course to survive."

Yet the midfielder knows that relegation would prove a crushing blow for not just the club, but the wider community.

"Hull was always known for having the worst schools, the worst poverty, the worst health, the worst this, the worst that, but this season, people have seen it differently," Ashbee says. "Hull's actually a good place to live and it's been nice to have helped put it on the map in a positive way."