ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Hull City 0 Aston Villa 2:IAIN DOWIE likes to urge his players to read self-improvement books – Chicken Soup for the Soul remains a favourite – but, very soon, the only manual Hull's squad may require is a guide to Championship grounds.

On a night when Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink was carried from the pitch unconscious, Dowie’s team saw their grip on the Premier League loosened by opponents with Europe on their minds. Depending on West Ham’s result at home to Wigan, it is now conceivable, should they fail to beat Sunderland here on Saturday, that Hull could be effectively relegated.

A fine goal from Gabriel Agbonlahor followed by a James Milner penalty proved sufficient to keep Villa’s faint hopes of Champions League qualification alive in a game where Martin O’Neill’s side were rarely fully extended.

With the fear of relegation intensifying in east Yorkshire, the time for regret and recrimination has arrived. Accordingly Adam Pearson, Hull’s chairman, had some harsh words for his predecessor, Paul Duffen, in the match programme. “In my personal opinion the decisions made by Mr Duffen in the summer of 2008 and, even more so, in 2009 were extremely short-sighted and lacking in business sense and specific football knowledge,” wrote Pearson. “He seems to have had no understanding of the industry, Hull City AFC or the city of Hull itself.

“Grounding core beliefs were lost somewhere between summer 2008 and autumn 2009,” added the current chairman. “The safety valve of pragmatic realism was cut off and the club under Mr Duffen spent money it didn’t have . . . in my personal view it is poor business sense and a lack of moral responsibility.

“Just under £6 million (€6.9m) spent on agent fees in two years is morally abhorrent. A wage bill of just under £40 million (€46m) when the club turnover is £50 million (€58m) in the Premier League. The maths don’t add up.”

Hull were soon in deficit on the pitch. A trio of hapless attempted clearances sent the ball ricocheting, bagatelle style, around the box. Finally, having cannoned off John Carew, it fell to Agbonlahor wide on the left and, from a tight angle, he expertly directed a right-foot shot over Matt Duke and into the top corner.

Dowie’s men then seemed reinvigorated and after George Boateng won possession impressively, Brad Friedel was required to save well with his legs from Vennegoor of Hesselink.

The game was delayed for seven minutes at the outset of the second half as Vennegoor of Hesselink received treatment on the pitch for a serious-looking injury suffered in a clash of heads with Richard Dunne, which knocked the Dutchman out. When the striker, still to regain consciousness, was eventually carried off on a stretcher, Jozy Altidore came on in his stead.

Shortly after play resumed Villa threatened to score a second when McShane’s shocking backpass sent Carew racing clear on goal only to be denied by Duke. Hull’s goalkeeper then did well to tip an Agbonlahor shot over the bar.

Villa won a penalty when Boateng tripped Milner in the area and the midfielder, much coveted in Manchester, stepped forward to convert it in style.

• Guardian Service

HULL CITY:Duke, McShane, Sonko, Mouyokolo, Dawson, Fagan, Cairney (Geovanni 70), Boateng, Kilbane (Olofinjana 84), Bullard, Vennegoor of Hesselink (Altidore 54). Subs not used:Myhill, Barmby, Cullen, Cooper. Booked: Cairney, Fagan.

ASTON VILLA:Friedel, Cuellar, Collins, Dunne, Warnock, Downing, Milner, Petrov (Sidwell 84), Ashley Young, Agbonlahor, Carew (Heskey 90). Subs not used:Guzan, Luke Young, Delfouneso, Reo-Coker, Beye. Booked: Petrov, Milner.

Referee:Mike Dean (Wirral).