Hull City caretaker manager Mike Phelan has said that his side are learning "harsh lessons" after two crushing back-to-back defeats.

The Tigers were defeated 4-1 by Arsenal before being torn apart 5-1 at Liverpool over the weekend as part of a tough run of fixtures that next sees them host Chelsea on Saturday.

"The last two scorelines suggest that we have played against two decent teams who are going to be challenging for different things to what we are looking to achieve," Phelan told the club's official website. "Liverpool have a different method of playing now under Jurgen Klopp and they are flying at the moment. We're competing at different ends of the scale and I'm pleased at times with the players and disappointed at times with the players.

"We're having to learn some harsh lessons from the last two league games and we've got another difficult one coming up next weekend against Chelsea. We have to learn lessons more quickly than we are doing at the moment, especially in terms of our decision-making at times.

"However, I don't want to chastise the players too much because they have been terrific and I think they will become more competitive because of the lessons learned in the last two games."

Hull - the pre-season favourites for relegation - are currently 13th in the primitive Premier League table, level on points with champions Leicester City.