Hull City, playing without injured striker Amr Zaki, missed out on the chance of moving above west Ham out of the relegation zone after slumping to a 2-0 defeat by Stoke City on Saturday. The toothless Hull, who beat Fulham in their previous Premier League game, failed to threaten the hosts throughout the match. Stoke needed six minutes to open the scoring through a goal from Jamaican striker Ricardo Fuller. They wrapped up the win with a goal from midfielder Liam Lawrence just before the end. Egyptian striker Zaki was not available for selection for the third successive game due to a knee injury. The 27-year-old, whose loan deal with Hull lasts until the end of the season, returned to Egypt to continue his rehabilitation program. "I'm disappointed with the goal in the first half - it was a poor, poor goal to give away," Hull coach Iain Dowie said after the match. "It was a schoolboy goal, something we cannot afford to do, and that's what cost us dearly. "We limited Stoke's big strengths very well today in terms of set pieces. Second half we played the ball much better, but the first was not quite good enough on the ball." Hull lie third from bottom in the 20-team league table with 27 points. West Ham, who are level on points with them but have the better goal difference, can go three points clear of the Tigers if they beat Everton on Sunday.
