Tigers chief Bruce backs Huddlestone for England call

A solid Premier League start was turned into an excellent one by virtue of the Tigers’ 1-0 victory over visiting West Ham United, their third win in all competitions in seven days and one which took the East Yorkshire outfit three points above champions Manchester United in the table.

That said, the triumph over the Hammers was not without controversy, with Bruce’s old friend Sam Allardyce labelling Robbie Brady a diver after he went down under the challenge of Joey O’Brien in the 13th minute in the game’s decisive moment. The Irishman subsequently hit home the penalty awarded by Kevin Friend.

Bruce, whose side will be aiming for a hat-trick of top-flight wins in Saturday’s home encounter with Aston Villa, said: “We’ve been to Chelsea, Manchester City and Newcastle, so it’s been a quite remarkable start. Probably double (the points) where I thought we would be.

“I’d have thought five points with three home games would have been a decent start. Thankfully, we’re doing better than that, but we are wary of what is around the corner. The players must not get carried away with it.”

It was another display which saw the plaudits shared around among the Tigers’ players, but the cornerstone to the hosts’ triumph was unquestionably £5.25m signing Tom Huddlestone, whose club record fee is starting to look a snip.

The former Spurs man produced another classy performance and Bruce feels the 26-year-old fully merits an international recall for England, who on Thursday afternoon name their squad for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers with Montenegro and Poland.

On Huddlestone’s England prospects with Hull – who have never seen a player receive a full cap with England while on their books – Bruce said: “Why not? If there’s a better passer of the ball... I don’t think there can be.

“He has great players ahead of him, Gerrard, Lampard and Wilshere, but there’s no reason why he can’t performing like he has been doing.

“He’s a naturally gifted footballer who can only get better by playing week-in, week-out. It’s scary how good he is.

“Five or six or seven of them have come in here and had a wonderful start. Thankfully, they have settled in so quickly, which they had no right to do.

“They are still living in hotels and trying to get their partners involved. It’s difficult, but on the pitch they’ve been terrific.”

Bruce bridled at accusations from Allardyce about Brady being a diver, but admits Saturday’s penalty award was a soft one. “I’ve never, ever encouraged anyone to try and cheat, which it (diving) is.

“Whether it’s a soft one that might have gone for us, maybe. But I’m not going to have it that he’s deliberately gone about doing it.”

Allardyce claimed: “Brady took a simulation on a slight contact with Joey O’Brien when the ball was not near him or the goal. He bought the penalty and the referee fell for it.”