SILVA’S A HULL OF A COACH

ON FACE value Marco Silva’s dugout bout with Antonio Conte at Stamford Bridge should be a walkover for the Italian.

Statistically speaking, however, Hull’s new head coach is the closest rival to the Chelsea boss in the Premier League with both averaging an incredible two-and-a-half points a game over their past 65 league matches in charge.

While Conte, 47, sealed two Serie A titles and then charged Chelsea to top spot in England – either side of two years in charge of Italy - Silva has compiled a pretty awesome CV of his own.

After claiming the Second Division title and sealing two Europa League qualifications with Estoril in his homeland, the 39-year-old was defeated just twice with Sporting Lisbon, lifting the Portuguese Cup in his only season at the helm, before winning 28 out of 30 for the Greek title with Olympiacos last year.

Last Saturday’s English league debut win over Bournemouth was the Portuguese’s 51st victory since the start of 2014-15, and his average 2.52 points per game is only marginally inferior to that of Conte (2.57) over a similar 65-game period.

And the man dubbed the Mini Mourinho shows no sign of an inferiority complex as he returns to the Bridge two years after a Champions League visit with Sporting.

He said: “Conte has done very good work. They are the first up to now because they are the best team.

“But I don’t want to talk so much about the other teams, about what Conte did.

“I need to do my work and change what I want for my team.”

Despite his confidence, Silva accepts Hull’s results could blemish his personal record with defeats – they face Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal in their following three fixtures.

He added: “Yes but I’ve never thought about losing a game before. I always think about winning – then see what the result is.”