Bosses battle as Blues lose long unbeaten run

HULL manager Sergej Jakirovic says he refused to shake hands with Birmingham City counterpart Chris Davies after a heated touchline exchange.

- By ALEX DICKEN

Jakirovic walked straight past Davies after his Hull side ended Blues’ 29-game unbeaten run in the league at St Andrew's.

The frostiness stemmed from a melee involving both sets of players and staff towards the end of the first half.

Jakirovic alleges that Davies swore at him during the incident and that a member of security at St Andrew's told him to ‘go back to Croatia! Davies denies he swore at Jakirovic.

The Hull boss said: “I was in my technical space all the time, they came to us. If you leave your space you get a yellow card. I got a yellow card because I show this (imaginary yellow card) for a very bad foul on Kyle Joseph.

“I asked Chris why he came in my technical area and he said ‘F-word you’ and some security guard said ‘Go back to Croatia’

“I am very happy with this. I am hard born, I am not afraid of anyone.

“For me it’s disrespectful and I didn’t shake hands which is, for me, a disaster but it’s okay, I’m a big boy. I can take care of myself.

“I will not say anything officially. This is football, it's emotions, it’s stress. I can forget it now. I take three points and go home.”

Asked for his version of events, Blues manager Davies said: “There was a melee of people as there usually is in those sorts of incidents and I didn’t think there was anything too unusual but he decided not to shake my hand.

“It's never happened to me as a manager and I don’t think I've ever seen that as a coach. It says a lot but it is what it is.”