Hull City boss Steve Bruce has defended his struggling strikers Nikica Jelavic and Abel Hernandez.

Jelavic came off the bench to score in victory at Sunderland on Friday.

Bruce said: "Jelavic has done fantastically to even get back playing because when he did damage his knee - and let's be fair, he has had a cartilage operation which used to finish people 25, 30 years ago - he got back within six weeks. It's been a struggle for him, but he has got himself back on the pitch.

"Hernandez, sometimes if you pay a lot of money for a striker from abroad, you have got to give them time to adjust, and he will be a really good player, so no, it wasn't a gamble because I didn't think Jelavic was right, and of course we play two games in three days, which was obviously on my mind too."