Hull City 4 Bristol City 0 - Return of Tigers' scoring touch welcomed by Steve Bruce

Having only scored three times in their last nine games in all competitions, the Tigers were back to their best as first-half goals from Curtis Davies and Robert Snodgrass laid the foundations for a comfortable win.

Mo Diame and Sone Aluko added gloss to the scoreline as Hull clinched all three points at the KC Stadium, and Bruce was relieved to add goals to their recent performances.

“Look, there’s been nothing really wrong with the performances,” he said.

“We’ve had more attempts, more shots, more crosses, more final-third entries than any other club in the division.

“However, the one statistic which is the stand out one is that we haven’t been able to score for whatever reason and that’s been frustrating.

“Once we scored then there was a calmness about us which was good to see.”

Diame and Aluko were instrumental in the win, with the former only arriving in Humberside on Wednesday after playing for Senegal during the international break.

Bruce feels Aluko staked his place for a permanent place in the side after ousting top goalscorer Abel Hernandez, who was forced to settle for a place on the bench following, what Bruce called, a lack of “spark” in training, having arrived back from duty with Uruguay on Friday.

“He’s come off a plane after being 5,000 miles away and after looking at him, there was no spark in him at all,” Bruce said.

“We know what a good player Sone is and he showed what a good player he is, so Abel has it all to do because Aluko has the jersey at the moment and it’s his to lose.”

Bristol City boss Lee Johnson believes his team still have a long way to go as their recent run of form came to a halt.

Prior to the match, the Robins had won six of their last nine leagues games as the club looked to move away from the relegation zone.

With Rotherham, their opponents tomorrow night, beating Leeds, Johnson branded the game a “cup final”.

“The Championship is relentless and the games keep coming thick and fast so we just have to pick the boys up because we have a massive game on Tuesday and it almost becomes a cup final for us,” said Johnson. “Rotherham are in good form and (we were in) good form before today, it’s two outstanding runs. It almost one of those mini six-pointers.”

Hull City: McGregor, Odubajo, Dawson, Davies, Robertson, Snodgrass (Elmohamady 76), Livermore, Huddlestone, Clucas, Diame (Maloney 78), Aluko (Hernandez 81). Unused substitutes: Bruce,Meyler,Maguire,Jakupovic.

Bristol City: O’Donnell, Matthews, Flint, Baker (Pearce 46), Golbourne, Pack, Bryan, Tomlin, Reid (Wilbraham 72), Odemwingie (Freeman 65),Kodjia. Unused substitutes: Fielding, Smith, Agard, Wagstaff.

Referee: Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire).

Subs Not Used: Bruce,Meyler,Maguire,Jakupovic.

Goals: Davies 14,Snodgrass 39,Diame 71,Aluko 80.

Bristol City: O’Donnell,Matthews,Flint,Baker (Pearce 46),

Golbourne,Pack,Bryan,Tomlin,Reid (Wilbraham 72),

Odemwingie (Freeman 65),Kodjia.

Subs Not Used: Fielding,Smith,Agard,Wagstaff.

Booked: Pearce.

Att: 16,521

Ref: Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire).