For West Ham the ghost of relegation may finally be starting to fade after a fourth successive clean sheet at home, and a second successive win. That it came against another of the sides battling at the bottom of the Premier League will only make the victory taste sweeter, but the reality is that despite being a goal up for almost the entire game, a man up for nearly half of it and two men to the good by the end, the home side were still far from convincing.

Carlton Cole’s goal, the second of the game, came from what was by some distance the best move of the match, even if it consisted of just a single pass – Julien Faubert’s superbly weighted through-ball – and a smart, calm clipped finish. People will also talk of a 70th-minute shot from inside his own half by the frequently frustrating Alessandro Diamanti which drew a save from Boaz Myhill, though it would almost certainly have missed the target had he left it. The performance from the home side was adequate, and no more.

Hull’s was considerably less. Thirteen league games now without a win and soon to celebrate, if that’s the right word, the first anniversary of their last success away from home, the visitors played pretty much to form throughout and a series of miserable gaffes started in just the third minute. Tom Cairney surrendered possession to Valon Behrami, who passed to Guillermo Franco. The Mexican, making his first appearance of 2010, miscontrolled so badly that the ball bobbled perfectly into the path of Behrami, who scored with ease from 15 yards.

Myhill made two decent saves in the first half, both also from Behrami and the second, after the midfielder headed Diamanti’s cross from close range, quite excellent. Then seven minutes into the second half Craig Fagan, already booked for fouling Scott Parker, gave the slightest tug to Diamanti’s shirt, the Italian tumbled theatrically and Hull were down to 10 men.

Shortly after the second goal they made a triple substitution, always something of a calculated risk. It didn’t work out well: although one of the new players, Jozy Altidore, missed a decent chance in the 74th minute it left them with no further options when their captain, Anthony Gardner, fell awkwardly in the 81st minute. He was carried off on a stretcher, left leg heavily strapped, and Hull ended the game with nine men.

Their numerical disadvantage might explain the third goal, when Faubert collected Radoslav Kovac’s pass, ran into the area without the merest hint of a challenge and thumped a shot into the top left corner. A miserable end to another miserable Hull performance

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• Defender set to play first game since John Terry scandal broke
• Hull striker also admits surprise over Rio Ferdinand ban

The Hull City forward Craig Fagan has vowed not to “cross the line” by taunting Wayne Bridge about his recent off-field turmoil should the pair go up against each other today.

The England left-back Bridge is expected to return to the Manchester City side for the visit to the KC Stadium following a spell out injured, during which allegations surfaced of an affair between his former partner and ex-Chelsea team-mate John Terry.

Should he play on Humberside, Bridge could well be up against Fagan, provided the Tigers’ forward keeps his place on the right wing. Fagan, however, says he would not dare use the recent off-field headlines to gain a psychological advantage over the defender.

“At the end of the day he’s going to be in the spotlight but I’m sure his manager wouldn’t put him in if he wasn’t 100% right,” said Fagan. “Obviously I don’t want to get involved in any of that.

“I wouldn’t even dare mention it to the guy, to be honest. I think that’s crossing the line a bit. If he does play, then fair play to him.”

Fagan also argued Rio Ferdinand’s case after the Manchester United defender’s suspension for elbowing him recently. Ferdinand is serving a four-game ban by the Football Association for apparently lashing out at Fagan at Old Trafford but the Hull striker doubts the England centre-half was being malicious.

“I was blocking him from marking Anthony Gardner and at the time I didn’t think it was an elbow, I thought I just got pushed,” said Fagan.

“It wasn’t until the next day that I heard he was going in front of the FA so it was a bit bizarre. He gave me his shirt after the game and stuff like that, so I don’t think there was any malice in it.”

Fagan’s role is one of a number of selection headaches for the Hull manager, Phil Brown, today, with the recent signing Amr Zaki pushing for a start up front and Seyi Olofinjana returning from the Africa Cup of Nations.

Brown is delighted to have a selection headache, however, particularly concerning the form of the 19-year-old midfielder Tom Cairney.

Cairney made his debut in last weekend’s 2-2 draw with Wolves and impressed sufficiently to keep his place for Tuesday’s game with Chelsea.

The Nottingham-born youngster produced another excellent performance in the 1-1 draw with Carlo Ancelotti’s side and can have high hopes of starting again despite growing competition for places.

Though the club currently sit third from bottom in the Premier League, Brown believes the emergence of Cairney and the steady progress of fellow youngsters Liam Cooper and Mark Cullen is evidence of a positive future for the cash-strapped club.

The Hull manager said: “Tom Cairney, in the light of Jimmy Bullard’s long-term injury and one or two falling by the wayside in terms of form and then Seyi Olofinjana going to the African Nations Cup, has grabbed his chance.

“It doesn’t look like Tom needs his feet keeping on the ground. He looks like he’s taking it all in his stride.”

Brown will be without the forward Geovanni today after he suffered a minor medial ligament problem, though the Brazilian could return for the midweek trip to Blackburn.

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