Lucas Herrington's teenage kicks in English football's top-flight have been rudely interrupted by his most unfortunate day yet in a Hull City shirt.

The 19-year-old defender, who's barely put a foot wrong all season as Australia's only representative in the Premier League, didn't have the worst first half at Fulham on Saturday (Sunday AEDT) by any stretch.

But after getting booked half-way through the opening period for a foul, the ball deflected off the young defender from Alex Iwobi's shot that put Fulham ahead in the 33rd minute.

Then at halftime as he sought a tactical change, Hull manager Sergej Jakirovic substituted his Socceroo.

The move from a five-man backline to 3-4-3 didn't make any difference as promoted Hull, who had up until Saturday defied the prophets of doom who've predicted they'll immediately go back down, succumbed to a 1-0 defeat that Jakirovic described as "really poor".

Fulham had been bottom of the table but their victory after six winless league matches moved them out of the relegation zone and eased the growing pressure on their new boss, Alvaro Arbeloa, the former Real Madrid star who's had a rough time since taking over from Marco Silva.  

Jakirovic had no complaints about Herrington's performance but explained that the youngster being vulnerable on a yellow card had influenced his decision to bench him after the break.

But things didn't improve for the Tigers, who've picked up only one point in their last three matches since their sparkling start to the season.

"That was the worst performance since I've been here," Jakirovic told Hull Live. "If you ask me about the reasons, I don't know right now. I have to watch this game again, but we were out of everything in possession, out of possession.

"Fulham were much, much better than us, and congratulations to them. They played an excellent game. 

"In the second half, we showed some reactions, we changed the system, but again, in the last third, nothing. We didn't have even a shot on target, so it's a pretty bad day for us.

"We were so far off from everything. I can say 1-0 is a good result for us. It was a very tough game for us at every moment. They ate us alive."