Steve Bruce: 'Hull City deserved to beat Sunderland'

Hull City manager Steve Bruce has claimed that his side deserved all three points from their Premier League relegation battle against Sunderland on Tuesday night.

Dame N'Doye's first-half opener was cancelled out by Jack Rodwell 13 minutes from time at the KC Stadium as the two sides shared the spoils in a fractious encounter that also included a touchline spat between Bruce and Gus Poyet.

Bruce acknowledged that the result was probably a better one for the Black Cats than it was for his side, but stressed that every point could prove vital in the race to avoid the drop this season.

"It may just be the point that keeps us up," the 54-year-old is quoted as saying by PA.

"We feel we did enough to get three points and certainly with us being at home Sunderland will think that's a really good point. We'd love it to have been more but we mustn't get carried away."

The result keeps the Tigers one place and one point above Sunderland, with five points now separating Hull from the bottom three.