Ruben Selles hailed a “ruthless” display from his Hull City side as they secured a narrow victory at Ewood Park.

Ryan Longman's goal 13 minutes from time saw the Tigers climb out of the relegation zone heading into the New Year.

"We are really happy, of course. It's always a very difficult place to come, they were in good form. Maybe not the last couple of games but, overall, they were in very good form," Selles told Hull Live.

"We know they are a really intense team, especially when they win those balls in the middle of the pitch and go quick in transition.

“I think the application from our boys was good, just growing in the game and staying in the game.

"At half-time, we just adjusted a couple of things and then when we made the three substitutions, we really made that step forward - started to create chances to score and improve the way that we finished the game. I think it was massive.

"I think we demand many times to be ruthless in the box, not only attacking but also defending, and I think we saw that today. We performed very well.

"We performed as good as the opponent and I think we took our chances. The league is competitive, but we have also proven now in five games that we can compete against any team in the league, so I expect the team to compete in every single game."

It is Hull’s second victory under Selles, who took charge last month following an impressive spell at Reading in League One.

“We have an honest team on the pitch every single time,” the head coach added. “It is an honest dressing room, they want to work hard.

“They are happy, of course. It is the second victory in the last three games, we keep moving forwards.

“Even in the last game that we lost 1-0, we were competitive. Our aim is to be competitive in every single game.

“We know that the score will sometimes go our way and sometimes unfortunately not. But we need to work for those inches and today we worked for the victory.”