Hull defender Paul McShane admits the Premier League relegation battle is too close to call.
Steve Bruce's side suffered another blow in their bid to beat the drop when they lost 3-1 at Swansea on Saturday, while Leicester and QPR were giving themselves lifelines with precious victories closing the gap on the teams above them.
Hull's hopes are not encouraged by a daunting fixture list in their last seven games with Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal still to visit the KC Stadium and away games at Southampton and Tottenham to come.
But Republic of Ireland international McShane says Hull tend to perform better against the bigger sides, even if they have failed to beat anyone in the top half of the table this season.
"It's going to be tight," McShane said after Hull's winless run stretched to five games at the Liberty Stadium.
"We can play well against the big teams, so hopefully we can get something off them" -Paul McShane
"There are going to be loads of twists and turns yet but we need to start picking up points quickly.
"We have a few of the big teams coming up but we know we can play well against the big teams, so hopefully we can get something off them.
"I still have faith, you've got to, so we're just going to keep going and get back into training on Monday and look forward to the weekend. That's all we can do."
McShane scored his first Premier League goal since December 2008 to halve Swansea's 2-0 interval lead five minutes after the break.
But fellow Irishman David Meyler was swiftly sent off for clattering into Swansea defender Kyle Naughton and Bafetimbi Gomis' second goal of the game in stoppage time finally killed off Hull.
"I think it's easy to play when you're 2-0 down because the pressure is off," McShane said.
"We need to start more brightly and start on the front foot.
"It's tough to put your finger on why that's been happening because we do everything correctly in training but I think it may be a little bit of pressure."
