Hull City captain Ian Ashbee has no doubts he will be playing again.

The 33 year-old is recovering from knee surgery.

Ashbee told the News of the World: "I've come back from the best surgeon in the world," he added. "He said it will be fine and he's not one for false promises. I will be back running in January or February and I will play again this season.

"Dr Steadman scraped the dead bone out and microfractured the bone.

"They put something like a toothpick into my leg to make holes up through the bone just to get the blood to come back down to calcify and make the bone became stronger again. It worked for me first time. I'm not angry about people saying I won't come back - but they are wrong."