Hull City face a mouthwatering EFL Cup semi-final draw against Manchester United after they defeated Newcastle United on penalties at the KCOM stadium on Tuesday night.

"I knew Shelvey would put his penalty where he did"

The Tigers owe much of their route to the final four to second choice goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic. The giant shot-stopper found an evening of inspirational form to make a string of vital saves before keeping two penalties out during the shootout. Jakupovic admitted “we do research on penalty takers before pretty much every game. It started with Gary Walsh and continues now with Bobby Mimms. It is an important thing".

The quarter-final hero added that luck combined with this extra knowledge aided him against the Geordies. He suggested “I knew Shelvey would put his penalty where he did. Even if you know that, you still need to be a bit lucky and make the save but we are all happy that we won the game and got through".

Jakupovic celebrates his part in history (photo: Getty Images)
Jakupovic celebrates his part in history (photo: Getty Images)

"We performed heroically"

Manager Mike Phelan was clearly delighted with the result and felt his players earned their place in the semi-finals. He claimed “on the night we performed heroically in the end and the players stuck to the task". The Hull boss then added “we showed tremendous courage and spirit throughout against a very good Newcastle team that are serious contenders for promotion back to the Premier League".

Phelan was also encouraged by how his team were able to respond to falling a goal behind for the second match running. He stated “we played against adversity at times, but we came through. We came from behind again and that is something we seem to have in our locker at the moment, although we’d rather not have to do it".

Hull are now setting their sights on the final and not resting on the piece of club history they have created. Phelan explained “getting through to the semi-finals of this competition is a tremendous achievement for this football club and it’s the furthest we’ve ever been. It’s something nice for the players, they worked hard for the reward and hopefully we can go one step further now".

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