Roberto Mancini warned his Manchester City players after Saturday's defeat at Hull that they must win away to make the Premier League top four.
City never got going in the early stages at the KC Stadium and fell behind in the 31st minute when the impressive Jozy Altidore opened the scoring with his first Premier League goal.
George Boateng put Hull 2-0 ahead nine minutes into the second half with a superb 25-yard volley and Emmanuel Adebayor's goal five minutes later proved to be only a consolation as Hull moved out of the relegation zone and up to 14th.
Mancini, who gave Patrick Vieira and Adam Johnson their debuts off the bench, admitted his side had been second best.
"We didn't play very well," he said. "We know Hull at home is a different proposition, they played well. We started the game very, very slowly and there were things I didn't like because the pitch is the same whether we play at home or away.
"If we want to make the top four, we must win away and we must fight. We must be aggressive away, not like the first half."
For Hull it was a first win since November and followed on from their impressive performance against Chelsea in midweek.
Assistant manager Brian Horton, who was in charge of City from 1993 to 95, felt Hull's fast start had set the tone for the victory.
"We got at them, like we did against Chelsea, set a high tempo from the start with the two up front causing problems," he said. "The first half was as well as we've played for a long, long time.
"The Chelsea result has given them confidence and confidence is the magic word in football because all of a sudden we look a completely different side.
"We should have beaten Wolves and to come back and do what they did against two of the best sides in the country is a tremendous testament to the staff and the fans."
Meanwhile Mancini criticised the Hull fans who subjected Wayne Bridge to a series of personal chants on his return to the side.
The England left-back played his first match after two months out with a knee injury and was singled out by the home fans following the revelations about an alleged affair between former Chelsea team-mate John Terry and his ex-partner.
Mancini said: "I think sometimes we have to have respect for people. It was not good, in the first half, the people did not respect him."
The City coach, who refused to comment on Terry's demotion, added of Bridge's performance: "It was important he played and I hope in the next week he can improve. Wayne is an important player for us."
