Middlesbrough remain in the npower Championship relegation zone after being held by Hull to a 2-2 draw at a wintry Riverside Stadium.
Hull will feel it was an opportunity lost after twice going in front with strikes from Robert Koren and Anthony Gerrard, only to be pegged back by a resurgent Boro side on each occasion.
Tigers manager Nigel Pearson included new loan signing Cameron Stewart in his starting line-up at the expense of Kevin Kilbane while Nick Barmby replaced John Bostock. Gary O'Neil was absent with a knee injury for Middlesbrough.
Both sides enjoyed equal amounts of possession early on with most of the action happening in the middle of the pitch and it was Marvin Emnes who had the first chance of the game for Boro but after racing clear, the Dutchman fired his shot over the crossbar.
The visitors opened the scoring in the 20th minute as a long ball from on-loan goalkeeper Vito Mannone caused havoc in the Boro defence and when the ball came out to Koren, the Slovenian's shot from 20 yards somehow managed to find a way past Jason Steele to put Hull in control.
Hull pressed for a second immediately but James Harper's shot went wide. It was the home side who responded with their first chance of the game as Leroy Lita headed in a Tony McMahon cross to level the scores just before the half-hour mark.
The Tigers should have gone in front when Emnes gave the ball away to Liam Rosenior, whose low cross was palmed away by Steele into the path of Barmby but the veteran could not hook the ball into the empty net. The lively Emnes almost made up for his earlier error but his shot narrowly missed the target.
Hull regained the lead four minutes before the break as Steele failed to keep out Gerrard's glancing header from a Koren free-kick.
Middlesbrough rallied after the interval and equalised instantly when Scott McDonald headed in from close range after good work from Lita. Koren then tried to regain the Tigers advantage but his long-range effort sailed over the crossbar.
Emnes had a chance to put Boro ahead but his shot was parried away for a corner by Mannone while Lita was off-target for Mowbray's men.
Kamil Zayatte had a chance for Hull to claim all three points late on but chose the wrong option as he shot into the side-netting rather than crossing. Both managers introduced their star strikers with Kris Boyd and Jay Simpson entering proceedings but it was to no avail as the points were shared.
Source: DSG
Source: DSG