Burnley test will provide Hull City with perfect yardstick of progress under Liam Rosenior

The Tigers host the runaway league leaders on Wednesday evening.

The visit of league leaders Burnley will provide the biggest marker yet of how much progress Hull City have made under Liam Rosenior.

That’s the verdict of skipper Lewie Coyle, who will captain the side when the pair meet under the lights at the MKM Stadium this evening.

City have lost just four times in the 18 games Rosenior has taken charge of, form which has seen the Tigers ease comfortably away from the relegation trouble they were in when he took over back in November.

Though their results dipped towards the end of last month when a four-game winless run damaged any hopes of a play-off push in the final weeks, Rosenior’s men have responded well so far in March with victory at home to West Brom followed by a good point on the road at Coventry City.

Burnley, however, will provide a different test altogether with Vincent Kompany’s Clarets 13 points clear at the top and seemingly cruising straight back into the Premier League at the first time of asking.

“Yes, (it should be a cracker) absolutely,” Coyle said. “They’re the games you want to play in, that’s why we play the game to be involved in nights like that and it’s just another game for us.

“I think it will be a really good marker to see where we’re at, it’s quite clear to see how well they’ve done this season and it will be a really good test for us, and an opportunity for us to show what we’re about.”

City drew 1-1 in the corresponding fixture at Turf Moor back in August in what was just the fourth game of the season, having taken the lead when Ozan Tufan crashed in the opener, and that performance, albeit early on, shows that the Tigers can compete with the best in the league, Coyle says.

“When I say it’s a tough test for us, I mean that’s based on their league position and how many points they’ve accumulated, but we’re not a million miles away from that at all,” he said.

“I think we showed that earlier on in the season and I feel like we’ve progressed so much more in that space of time will tell, Wednesday we’ll go up against them and we’ll see where we’re at.

“Our levels are coming and I feel like we’ll get to where we want to get to.”