The damning thing for Leicester in this match they really needed to win was that there was no cavalry charge, no guns blazing crescendo. Tom Huddlestone was dismissed for second bookable offence with 18 minutes to go but Allan McGregor in the Hull goal had not one meaningful save to make as the clock ticked down. In fact, it was Mark Schwarzer who had to be alert. In the final minute he reacted expertly to stop an Abel Hernandez shot following a quickly-taken free-kick by Dame N’Doye. Had that gone in, the obituaries on Leicester’s Premier League life could have been signed off. Hull City's Tom Huddlestone (right) looks on in disbelief as referee Jonathan Moss gets out the red card to send off the midfielder . Hull midfielder Tom Huddlestone (right) is shown the red card for a challenge on Leicester's Jamie Vardy . Huddlestone's team-mate Jake Livermore is in despair after Hull were reduced to ten men in the second-half . LEICESTER CITY (3-5-2): Schwarzer 6.5; Morgan 6 (Nugent 84’), Huth 6, Upson 6; De Laet 5 (Lawrence 76’), Mahrez 6, James 6.5, Cambiasso 6.5, Schlupp 6; Vardy 7, Kramaric 4 (Ulloa 61’ 6) Subs not used: Schmeichel, Drinkwater, King, Wasilewski, Nugent . HULL CITY: McGregor 6; Dawson 6, Bruce 6, McShane 6; Elmohamady 6, Livermore 6, Huddlestone 5.5, Ramirez 6 (Hernandez 85’), Robertson 6 (Meyler 77’); Jelavic 5 (Quinn 78’), N’Doye 6.5 . Subs not used:  Figueroa, Davies, Hernandez, Harper, Aluko . Booked: Huddlestone sent off, Robertson, Dawson, Bruce . Referee: Jonathan Moss . MOTM: Vardy . Attendance: 31, 456 . Here is Hull City's Michael Dawson's heat map. CLICK HERE to see more from Sportsmail's MATCH ZONE . A goalless draw does not do a huge amount to avert that likely narrative. Leicester are seven points from safety, even if Sunderland are dropping like a stone having played a game more. Leicester’s match in hand is against Chelsea. Martin O’Neill was at the King Power Stadium as a guest of the club he served so well in two League Cup triumphs. This season is heading for a more sombre conclusion to those heady days. Nigel Pearson is realistic, knowing uncommon improvement is needed immediately. ‘We’ve got ten games left, six at home, we probably need to win five,’ he said having seen his side win only four times all campaign. ‘When the pressure was on us to go and create I don’t think we did. We were laboured.’ Steve Bruce was disappointed at a different aspect, the clamour for a card from Leicester players when Alex Bruce tackled Riyad Mahrez in the second half. The ball was won but referee Jon Moss produced a yellow, soon after erring similarly in booking Craig Dawson. Leicester City keeper Mark Schwarzer punches clear as Dame N'Doye of Hull and Ritchie De Laet of the Foxes vie for the ball . ‘There is a raging debate about Chelsea in midweek. I’ve seen everybody surround Alex for a red card for his challenge. For me it is a perfectly decent challenge I would expect a centre-half to make,’ said Bruce. ‘If we’re going to go down the route of every other league jumping around, whinging, trying to get people yellow cards and red cards. For me it’s not right.’ When a game begins with six centre-halves on the pitch there is a reasonable assumption goals will be in short supply. Jake Livermore of Hull attempts to keep possession at the King Power Stadium under pressure from Leicester's Esteban Cambiasso . Leicester matched Hull in a 3-5-2 formation, with half a dozen genuine defenders concentrating solely on keeping the ball away from danger. They did their jobs well, in a contest that began so short on opportunities or entertainment mass narcolepsy was an entirely possible outcome. It took Leicester until 62 minutes to register a shot on target, and even that was a mishit cross by Jamie Vardy, requiring a palm over from McGregor. Hull were only marginally better, but should have gone ahead in the 20th minute only for Nikica Jelavic to get himself in a terrible tangle. In a contender for miss of the season, he failed to put boot to ball from six yards with the net open. Huddlestone chipped the ball over the backline of blue shirts to find Ahmed Elmohamady sprinting clear, having timed his run perfectly to stay onside. The Egyptian squared the ball to take out Schwarzer but Jelavic failed badly. Six minutes later he did have the ball in the back of the net. But Moss had already blown for a foul on Schwarzer by N’Doye. Leicester’s best opening of the first-half came in the 34th minute when Mahrez delivered a wicked cross that bent into the area in front of Andrej Kramaric. But the £9million striker was either caught on his heels or disinclined to make the leap required to meet the ball and it drifted wide. Tom Huddlestone puts in a robust challenge on Leicester City striker Andrej Kramaric during the Premier League clash on Saturday . Referee Jonathan Moss hands out the yellow card to Hull City defender Alex Bruce (left) as tempers threatened to boil over . This was a bad game for Kramaric, unable to affect it in any way and he was hooked for Leonardo Ulloa after an hour. Soon after Jelavic headed over from a corner by Gaston Ramirez. That is when Leicester began to make a more concerted effort to win three points rather than one. Vardy was a nuisance all match for the Hull defenders, his pace and energy unsettling. It was he who stretched his legs down the left before cutting in and forcing Huddlestone into a foul he wished not to make. He tried to back out of it but the contact sent Vardy to the floor. Abel Hernandez of Hull City has his head in his hands after a missed chance to fire the Tigers into the lead at the King Power Stadium . Moss, soon after dishing out two wholy incorrect bookings for ‘fouls’ by Dawson and Bruce, got this yellow right. From the free-kick Jeff Schlupp struck a shot that was heading in until Ulloa inadvertently blocked. With the man advantage Leicester pressed but without cultivating anything to truly worry Bruce. The crowd willed the ball in for the final few minutes but boos greeted the final whistle. This felt like a fatal opportunity missed.
Hull midfielder Tom Huddlestone sent off in the second-half for two bookable offences . Nigel Pearson's Leicester City side remain bottom of the Premier League, seven points adrift of safety .