Arsenal loan report: Chuba Akpom apologises to Hull City after petulant outburst in Reading win

Arsenal loanee Chuba Akpom has apologised to Hull City fans after reacting furiously to his substitution during the narrow win against Reading on 16 December. The Championship promotion hopefuls rallied back from a disappointing first-half showing to triumph 2-1 thanks to a late winner from captain Jake Livermore, yet Akpom was visibly unhappy at manager Steve Bruce's decision to replace him with Robert Snodgrass with 12 minutes remaining and the score still level.

As well as shouting in frustration, the young striker also hurled his gloves to the turf. Such a reaction certainly did not go unnoticed across social media. He was also involved in a spat with Danny Williams following a heavy sliding challenge that upset the combative Royals midfielder.

"Hard fought win tonight," Akpom said via his official Twitter account. "Let a lot of people down with my reaction, sorry to the fans, staff and club. Emotions got the better of me."

Akpom, who underlined his potential to Arsene Wenger with a hat-trick during Arsenal's pre-season friendly against a Singapore Select XI this summer, has notched nine goals in all competitions since joining Hull on a season-long loan deal in August. The Tigers are currently fourth in the second tier, two points adrift of Middlesbrough and Brighton in the automatic promotion spots as they seek to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

When asked about that brief show of petulance, Bruce told the Hull Daily Mail: "I've been in the game long enough to understand that emotions run high and sometimes you make a complete fool of yourself.

"Unfortunately he has. I've had World Cup winners throw their gloves at me and then I take a bit of notice. I'm not going to take notice of a 19-year-old who, when things don't go his way, spits his dummy and throws his toys out of the pram. I'll deal with it in the way I think I should. I've got skin like a rhino. That doesn't bother me at all."