Davies proving himself a cut above for Hull

Davies, who left the ground nursing a nasty injury, was outstanding as the Tigers maintained their unbeaten home record in 2013-14, securing their third clean sheet in four matches on their own turf.

Veteran Abdoulaye Faye, 35, was not far behind Davies in the performance stakes as Hull went into the international break with further tangible reward for their early-season efforts and extended their unbeaten run to five matches in all competitions.

Bruce admitted his side were nowhere near their best on the attacking front, but the defensive resolve and effort shown certainly heartened him as the Tigers took their points tally from their quartet of league games in East Yorkshire this season to a healthy eight.

He said: “Our resilience and attitude, and our captain’s performance in particular, was immense.

“What I’ve seen is that we’ve got a really good chance to stay in this division. That’s my aim, to get us there.

“Eight points (at home) is a fantastic return for us so far. It was arguably the worst we’ve played this season, but we’ve still taken something from the game.

“That’s a positive. My goalkeeper and the two centre-backs were terrific. You could say that we missed Robbie Brady, but that would be too easy. We haven’t played well (going forward). We had four or five players here who haven’t played well on the day.

“These days happen in football and you’ve got to take the point and move on.

“It could have been a lot worse. Eleven points from seven games is a really good start for us.”

Another to salute the display of Davies was defensive colleague Liam Rosenior, who feels the 28-year-old has been the pick of the bunch so far this season for Hull and looks the shrewdest of summer buys for a bargain £2.5m.

He added: “He’s probably been the standout player for us this season and we need him to keep delivering.

“I said when he first signed that I was delighted. I played with him before with England Under-21s so it doesn’t surprise me at all.

“He’s a great lad. The way he is as a person is the way he plays the game. He’s honest, he’s outgoing and gives everything. He cares about every performance and other players.”

The down side to Davies’s day came after an aerial clash with 
Libor Kozak which left both men nursing head injuries.

Davies, for once, came off second best and posted a picture on Twitter showing a badly swollen eye and cut that required several stitches.

“Looks like I’ve taken a few left/right/lefts from @AnthonyfJoshua”, Davies wrote, referring to Great Britain’s Olympic champion boxer.

Bruce added: “Sometimes a centre-back doesn’t get the recognition he deserves, but he really was a proper captain in this match. He was terrific.

“He has a horrible, horrible cut now, a really nasty one. It’s a cut over the eye but a bad one which is down to the bone.

“It might need internal stitches, too. He hasn’t surprised me, though. For me to pay £2.25m is a lot of money. I’ve still got big connections at Birmingham and he’s been their player of the year for the last two seasons, which is not easy for a centre-back to achieve.”

One of Bruce’s other summer signings, Danny Graham, has had a less successful start.

The striker, on a season-long loan from Sunderland, has not scored in seven Hull appearances and 24 in total, covering games with Swansea and the Black Cats.

Bruce defiantly defends his all-round efforts, but accepts the drought needs to end.

“I’m not interested in what went before. Danny has only been here for seven matches and he’s contributing to the team,” he said.

“He needs to stay strong and for us to support him.

“All strikers go through it and I’m sure he’ll be bigger and better and stronger for it when he does come through it.

“He’s a really decent footballer and he just needs a goal, like all strikers do.”

England goalkeeping understudy John Ruddy’s blunder helped earn Chelsea a 3-1 victory over Norwich yesterday.

Days after Joe Hart’s credentials as England’s No 1 were called into question following his errors in Manchester City’s Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich, Ruddy allowed Eden Hazard’s weak shot to squirm under his body and give Chelsea an 85th-minute 2-1 lead at Carrow Road.

Anthony Pilkington had brought the hosts level in the 68th minute, cancelling out Oscar’s fourth-minute opener to give the Canaries hope of snatching a point.

Willian fired home a stunning third to seal the win a minute after Hazard’s goal.

Southampton’s impressive start to the season continued with a 2-0 home win over Swansea.

Adam Lallana opened the scoring in the 19th minute and substitute Jay Rodriguez added the second seven minutes from time.

Jack Wilshere responded to the row over a photograph of him smoking by scoring the equaliser to earn Arsenal a 1-1 draw at West Brom. His deflected shot wrong-footed goalkeeper Boaz Myhill in the 63rd minute to cancel out Claudio Yacob’s first-half opener for the Baggies.

The draw brought to an end the Gunners’ 10-match winning run in all competitions but took them top above Liverpool on goal difference.