Football
ESPN staff 9y

Steve Bruce rues late Hull mistakes as Danny Welbeck grabs point for Arsenal

Steve Bruce was disappointed his Hull side could not hang onto their lead at Arsenal as Danny Welbeck scored late on to secure a 2-2 draw on Saturday.

The Tigers looked to be leaving London with all three points after Mohamed Diame and Abel Hernandez cancelled out Alexis Sanchez's opener, but Welbeck rescued a draw for Arsene Wenger's side with a stoppage time strike to deny the visitors an unlikely victory.

Bruce revealed his pride at the performance, but believes his players must become more ruthless in closing games out.

"I am satisfied with a point, but I think that is four times this season we've conceded in the last minute," he said.

"Today I didn't think we were going to concede because we were comfortable, but we ran out of juice badly because the international players had been away and we made a few mistakes. I thought we were going to hang on to what would be a great win for us.

"However, I have been here before with teams where Arsenal have played the reserves and we have been beaten by six or five and gone away with our tails between our legs, so we have done extremely well to get a point."

A ruptured bicep for goalkeeper Steve Harper had Eldin Jakupovic on as his replacement, and with usual first-choice Allan McGregor already on the injury list with a shoulder injury, Bruce admitted he would have to recall Mark Oxley from loan at Hibernian in Scotland's Championship.

"It looks as if [Harper] has ruptured his bicep, which is a horrible injury,'' Bruce said. "He would love me to say he did it when he tipped the ball over the bar from [Santi] Cazorla, but it was a shot somebody scuffed and he went down."

Bruce also revealed Jelavic had twisted his knee during the warmup, while defender Michael Dawson also hobbled off in the second half with an ankle problem. The striker is set for a scan on Monday, while the centre-back is doubtful for next week's trip to Liverpool.

Information from the Press Association was used in this report.

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