They were joined by Burnley's Steven Caldwell and Joey Gudjonsson as Premier League official Mike Riley handed out four red cards in a surreal seven-minute spell midway through the second half of a win that strengthens the Tigers' play-off ambitions.

A fortuitous goal from Fraizer Campbell set them on their way to a seventh win in 12 Coca-Cola Championship games before Richard Garcia joined him on the scoresheet with a 35-yard wonder strike.

"The ironic thing, and it is ironic, is that Mike Riley dropped his red card a couple of minutes into the game and I told him he wouldn't be needing it," said Brown.

"I thought that the first half was the best 45 minutes that I have seen from a Hull City team at the KC Stadium since I've been here. It could have quite easily been three, four or five.

"The quality was there tonight and that's what I've asked for all season. I thought that everybody to a man responded to the challenge of going above Burnley.

"The quality was there for all to see but then the game was flawed by a whole host of cards.

"Tonight I saw their defenders go through the back of Caleb Folan on three or four occasions, and I thought if Mr Riley didn't do something about this soon, either Caleb Folan will get injured or there'll be some kind of incident in the second half.

"That's not me being clever. I'll look at it on the video and if Caleb deserves to get the red card I'll deal with it in-house. The same with Jay-Jay Okocha but it disappoints me because it takes the shine off a good performance.

"I've seen the Jay-Jay incident very clearly and I've got my own mind made up but Mr Riley has come here and made the decisions he's made and it's not for me to comment on.

"These kind of dealings need to be kept in-house. Everyone has seen it but I have the benefit of hindsight with DVDs from all angles and I'll keep it in-house."

Brown also confirmed that he will not be appealing against either sending off, adding that he "doesn't see the sense in changing a three-game ban to a six-game ban".

Brown's opposite number Owen Coyle admitted that he was bitterly disappointed with the way his Burnley side acquitted themselves in the opening period, allowing Hull to open up what proved to be a winning lead.

"I felt that we were very poor in the first period of the match," he said. "The first goal was a soft goal and Hull kept coming. The second goal was a wonder strike and I don't know if the lad will hit a better one in his career.

"There was a marked improvement in the second half but Hull were terrific in the first part of the game but we were very poor. Tonight was an opportunity that we've missed."

Coyle also revealed that he had not seen the incidents that saw Folan and Okocha dismissed, but felt the red cards issued to his own players were dubious.

"I didn't see the incident with Stevie Caldwell where the lad (Folan) was sent off," he said.

"I thought that Stevie's was a soft second yellow. Equally I never saw the Jay-Jay Okocha incident with Joey (Gudjonsson) but maybe it's equally soft.

"But that shouldn't take things away from a bad start."