Wolves 2 Hull City 2: Leaders in need of late strike to end Tigers' hopes of shock win

Substitute Rasmussen headed home from close range in the 83rd minute to the frustration of Nigel Adkins and his players.

Wolves are within touching distance of the Premier League but the Tigers were not prepared to lie down and make things easy for them – even after falling behind.

Wolves took the lead through Diogo Jota’s 18th-minute penalty only to be pegged back when David Meyler also converted from the spot eight minutes before half-time.

Hull then looked set to pull off a famous win when Ryan Bennett turned the ball into his own net after 78 minutes only to be denied by Rasmussen.

Wolves were denied the perfect start by a stunning second-minute save from the Tigers goalkeeper Allan McGregor.

Barry Douglas lifted a free-kick into the area and Romain Saiss met his cross with a powerful header from eight yards that McGregor did well to push to safety over the bar.

Having overcome that shaky start, Hull threatened themselves from a set-piece in the 15th minute when Jon Toral’s free-kick found its way to Meyler only for the Irishman to lift his shot well off target.

Wolves capitalised on that miss when they took control through Jota only three minutes later.

As well as converting from the spot with a clinical piece of finishing, Jota also won the penalty when he drew a foul from Michael Hector.

Jota could have had a second in the 24th minute when he raced clear of the static Hull defence only to be denied by a smart challenge from McGregor., who had to recover instantly to save the follow-up shot from Helder Costa with his legs.

Costa’s night then got worse when his poor pass led to Hull’s equaliser.

Costa’s ball put Roderick Miranda in trouble and led to him hauling down Meyler who comfortably beat John Ruddy from the spot.

Hull were galvanised by dragging themselves back on to level terms and threatened to take the lead eight minutes into the second-half when Temitayo Aina was picked out at the far post only to be crowded out as he prepared to test Ruddy.

Hector then steered a 70th-minute header agonisingly wide from Kamil Grosicki’s cross as Wolves started to live dangerously.

Their luck ran out when Bennett turned the ball into his own net following a cross from Grosicki.

It looked enough to earn Hull the win, but Wolves suddenly found a burst of energy and when Douglas crossed from the left , Rasmussen was on hand to head home an equaliser from 12 yards.

Wolves: Ruddy, Miranda (Afobe 46), Coady, Boly, Bennett, N’Diaye (Gibbs-White 77), Saiss, Douglas, Costa, Cavaleiro, Jota (Buur 70). Unused substitutes: Batth, Hause, Norris, Bonatini.

Hull City: McGregor, Tomori, Hector, MacDonald, Clark, Aina, Meyler, Henriksen, Kingsley (Campbell 70), Toral (Irvine 61), Dicko (Grosicki 65). Unused substitutes: Mazuch, Marshall, Bowen, Stewart.

Referee: Darren England (South Yorkshire).

Aston Villa remained firmly in the Championship play-off places after a 3-0 victory over 10-man Reading.

Birkir Bjarnason opened the scoring early in the second half and former Barnsley captain Conor Hourihane added the second in the 63rd minute after Paul Clement’s side had been reduced to 10 men following David Edwards’s dismissal in the 30th-minute for his second yellow card.

Scott Hogan added the third in the 70th minute as Villa wrapped up the win which consolidated fourth place, with Reading still just five points clear of the bottom three.

Strugglers Birmingham City claimed a valuable win at Bolton thanks to Lukas Jutkiewicz’s second league goal of the season.

The striker put Garry Monk’s side ahead five minutes before half-time when he timed his run perfectly to the far post to slide in Jacques Maghoma’s free-kick.