Steve Bruce has admitted that the club need to make at least four or five signings in order to think about a return to the Premier League by either winning or finishing second in the Championship.

Despite being one of the newly relegated teams, Hull are already behind Derby in the rank of favourites for promotion according to popular bookmakers. These odds can be improved only by signing some top quality players while also retaining existing big names like Curtis Davies. It has been speculated that the former Aston Villa defender could be poached by Premier League clubs.

Davies has so far remained silent on the issue and has pledged his future with Hull, but the persisting interest from top division clubs could change the outcome. Bruce is aware that most of the signings made by him last summer have not worked out. Hence, he has little time in order to get things right at the KC stadium. The former Sunderland boss often starts extremely well with results petering out towards the end of his career at a club. It remains to be seen if Hull will remain patient with Bruce even if the club has a poor start to the season. The opening match of the season is against Huddersfield Town.

“I would have thought we need at least four or five (new signings) at the moment. We’ll not have Robert Snodgrass and Mo Diame for the first month so with those two out we’ve got 19 players, and two of those are goalkeepers.We are a little bit thin on the ground, but I’m quietly confident we’ll bring in some fresh faces and have a squad capable of challenging for promotion.The football is just starting now. We’re all back to work after one of the quietest summers I can remember and you can see things picking up,” said Bruce.