Source: Team_Talk
Boateng released from hospital
Hull midfielder George Boateng was released from hospital on Sunday morning afer scans came back clear on the head injury he suffered at Stoke. The veteran Dutchman was carried off on a stretcher and taken straight to hospital after being struck in the face by Stoke forward Tuncay Sanli's overhead kick.He was kept in hospital overnight for observation amid fears he had suffered a fractured jaw, but has now returned home after a series of scans and X-rays all came back clear.That is the one piece of good news for the Tigers after a match at Stoke in which they offered very little. And Tigers boss Iain Dowie believes they must get a win away from home if they are to escape relegation from the Premier League.The 2-0 defeat at the Britannia Stadium was their 13th in 17 matches on the road this season but their drought actually stretches back to March 4 last year, when they beat Fulham at Craven Cottage.Fortunately, four of their remaining six matches are at the KC Stadium.However, with Aston Villa and Liverpool yet to visit Dowie is keen to pick up points in crucial fixtures at Birmingham and Wigan."Everyone talks about our away form but in the time I've been here we've had a mad five or 10 minutes at Portsmouth (a 3-2 defeat) and a poor half," he said."I can't look at what has happened in the past. I thought we played very positively at Portsmouth and we played positively in the second half at Stoke."We've got four games at home and they will be big games. We've also got to go to Wigan and Birmingham and take something because I think that will be required."We are in good spirits and we have to make sure we turn our home form to our advantage against Burnley."Dowie was in a similar situation 12 months ago as assistant to Alan Shearer when the pair were appointed in a desperate but failed bid to save the Magpies from relegation.However, this time around he is the man in charge and he knows he has no-one to hide behind when things go wrong."It is a totally different set of circumstances when you are making the final decision; it is much easier as a number two to make decisions," he said.Asked if there was anything he could use from his Newcastle experience to save Hull, Dowie added: "You learn you have to take your opportunities and you have to have a group of players who have a belief in the way you play."Clarity is important, you have to be very clear what you want to do and I've made a point of doing that."You need to have clarity of game plan, clarity of team shape and the way you have to go about it."What was crystal clear at Stoje were Hull's problems.In only the sixth minute defender Paul McShane misread Dave Kitson's flick-on with disastrous consequences as Ricardo Fuller nipped in behind him and raced into the penalty area to beat Boaz Myhill."We cannot afford to concede goals in that manner - they clear the ball from the back, win a flick-on and are through on goal," added Dowie."We need to be a bit brighter, get our wide men into the game and pass the ball with a quicker tempo."Even during their best spell of play in the entire match - 20 minutes in the middle of the second half - the Tigers failed to test goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen.Their problems were compounded when, having used all three substitutes, Boateng was carried off.For 15 minutes - plus a further eight added on for the injury - the visitors had to play with 10 men and Liam Lawrence exploited the extra space to fire home the decisive second in the last minute of regulation time.