Hull City boss Mike Phelan is maintaining a positive outlook following Monday night's loss at Middlesbrough.

The Tigers were beaten 1-0 by Boro at the Riverside Stadium which sees them remain in 19th place on the Premier League table.

The result, while disappointing, is not disastrous for Phelan who says the playing group is well aware of the task in front of the Humberside club.

"I don't think it will kill the sense of belief because we know exactly what the purpose of this season is - we knew it was going to be difficult and we knew that wouldn't change by winning here today," he said.

"But it certainly makes it more difficult looking at the programme we've got coming up, and the rest of December and January are going to be very hard."

Hull next take on Crystal Palace at home on Saturday.