New Tigers boss Ruben Selles (centre) watches his side lose to Blackburn Rovers
Hull City's new manager Ruben Selles watched from the stands as his side dropped to foot of the Championship after a defeat to in-form Blackburn.
The former Reading boss, who this week swapped a League One promotion push for a Championship relegation struggle, will have been disappointed to see his side lose a sixth match on the trot.
Sean McLoughlin's first-half own goal proved the difference and left the Tigers anchored in the drop zone, two points from safety and facing a battle to turn around their fortunes.
Selles, 41, will search for the positives in this performance and there were promising signs, with the Tigers having enough possession and efforts to have taken at least a point.
Blackburn spent much of the first hour firefighting, but saw out a fourth successive win under manager John Eustace to stay firmly in the promotion picture in sixth place.
Caretaker boss Andy Dawson was in charge here for the second and final time before Selles takes the reins for the visit of Watford on Wednesday.
And while the need to put the brakes on their current slide is becoming a pressing concern, the new Tigers boss will believe he has raw material to work with after his side came close to taking something from this game.
Rovers were ahead after 20 minutes, Tigers defender McLoughlin turning in to his own net from close range after sticking out a left leg to clear Callum Brittain's whipped effort from the right.
Blackburn led at half-time not having had a shot on target, something which took until 51 minutes to materialise through Lewis Baker's blocked effort.
The lively Ryan Longman, one of six changes from the Hull side which lost to Middlesbrough, and Abu Kamara both had first-half efforts saved by Rovers keeper Aynsley Pears, while Regan Slater and Gustavo Puerta narrowly missed the target after the break.
Hull's best chance fell to Chris Bedia who, after making space for himself in the box, struck an effort over.
From that miss to the final whistle, Blackburn looked increasingly comfortable as they smothered the hosts' threat.
Hull City caretaker manager Andy Dawson told BBC Radio Humberside:
"I thought first half we played some really good stuff and I was really pleased with the lads. We knew it was going to be difficult but some of the opportunities we had were really good. We just need one of those to go in.
"I think Ruben [Selles] has seen a side with a lot of natural ability in it. Can we be more clinical? Yes. But we will get ready to go Monday morning and hopefully hit the ground running on Wednesday [against Watford].
"Ruben has been brilliant in terms of letting us crack on and get a result today, which obviously we didn't. But he came in to the dressing room after and had a chat with the lads and brought a freshness.
"There was enough of what he has seen today with the quality of play we have in the building to hopefully start climbing the table."
Blackburn head coach John Eustace told BBC Radio Lancashire:
"A lot of their shots were from outside the box today which was good, but we knew we were coming up against a really talented team in Hull who have a lot of excellent technicians.
"They are a really good footballing team so we knew it was going to be a tough game.
"So I am really proud of the boys and the way they dug in and kept another clean sheet."
