TIGERS WILL ROAR AGAIN VOWS NEW BOY ADKINS

NEW Hull boss Nigel Adkins has not ruled out the Tigers returning to the Premier League this season – even though they are twentieth in the Championship and three points above the drop zone.

Adkins, who took over from the sacked Leonid Slutsky at the KCOM this week, guided Southampton to the top flight in 2012.

And he believes the Tigers can make up a 16-point deficit between them and the play-off places by May.

“I’ll be doing the best for Hull City because we want to reach the heights of being back in the Premier League,” said the former Reading boss (above), who begins his reign at home to Brentford this afternoon.

“We’ve given ourselves an uphill task to do it this season but it doesn’t mean it’s not achievable.

“There’s an awful lot of big clubs in this division. We just have to give ourselves the stability to have a chance to move forward.”

But the Bees are aiming to ruin his Tigers debut, and manager Dean Smith thinks Sergi Canos is the man to do it.

The Spain Under-19 forward missed the first two months of the season because of injury and Smith said: “He’s explosive and emotional but can score and assist in many goals.”

Smith expects Hull to respond to Adkins’ arrival.

He added: “You want to make a good first impression on the new man. A manager goes into a club with preconceived ideas of what the players are about, so you’re looking to get onside with him.”