HULL City boss Steve Bruce believes Blackburn Rovers are a better side than their league position would suggest.

Rovers are 18th and haven’t won in the Championship since December 11 but they will go into today’s home clash with the Tigers having progressed to the fifth round of the FA Cup with wins at Newport County and Oxford United.

And they produced arguably their best performance under new boss Paul Lambert last Saturday, drawing 1-1 at Hull’s title-rivals Middlesbrough, to extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to four matches.

And Bruce, whose side are one point behind Boro in second, said: “They’re better than their league form would suggest, without question.

“I’ve seen them recently and they were really unlucky against Middlesbrough. On another day they win that game.”

The match at the Riverside Stadium was new-look Rovers’ first since selling top-scorer Jordan Rhodes to Boro for an initial £9m. 

“The reports I’ve had say they’ve been excellent,” said Bruce.

“They’ve changed slightly with a diamond in midfield. Corry (Evans) sits at the bottom with (Jordi) Gomez, the boy from Sunderland, up at the top.

“Then there’s (Tony) Watt and Danny Graham up front and a big physical back-four. They’re better than where they are in my mind.

“They’ve lost their big asset (Rhodes) but they’re still a very decent side.”