'We proved the doubters wrong and we'll aim to do that again'

Hull City assistant manager Dean Holden says the club are still hoping to recruit players with "a bit more Premier League experience".

The Tigers were last in the top flight for the 2016-17 season and Holden is hoping they have the personnel to stay there this time.

"I was talking to Sergej [Jakirovic] and he said it was probably a bit easier last year because we knew what we had to work with," Holden said on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club. "We obviously had a plan to try to attack the league and finish as high as we could.

"This time 12 months ago we were probably everyone's favourites, certainly the bookmakers', to go down to League One and that will be the case this year. We proved the doubters wrong and we'll aim to do that again.

"In the last week or so we've brought in some real high-calibre signings, in terms of real good players, and there's a lot of young potential there. But we're still looking for a bit more Premier League experience and we're hoping that will come before the window shuts."

Hull have already had a busy transfer window this summer, signing 11 new players, and they are expected to add at least two more who will "run for the shirt" before it closes.

"If you're trying to find the perfect player who's technically excellent, who's got power and pace, I think he's probably competing at the top-end of the Premier League," Holden said.

"Anybody who saw us play last year saw a team who lives by the manager's personality. Sergej, who I think the media will fall in love with, he's straight to the point, very old school, a bit like Big Sam [Allardyce] and [Sean] Dyche. Very straight to the point and he likes his team to play like that - on the front foot, vertically and forward and to run forward, and run for the shirt."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds here