Thursday 8 September 2016 17:27, UK
Hull's performances in the face of adversity have impressed Sean Dyche, although the Burnley boss has promised them a tough ride at Turf Moor this weekend.
The Tigers were considered relegation candidates when they opened up the new Premier League campaign with just 13 fit senior professionals, a number that caused manager Steve Bruce to walk away from his post.
However, despite a disrupted start to the season off the pitch, Mike Phelan has led Hull to six points from the first three games to leave them above Tottenham, Arsenal and Liverpool in the table.
They travel to east Lancashire this Saturday with a bigger squad, even if the futures of both Phelan and the club remain in limbo, and Dyche has praised Hull's players for banding together.
"It can go either way for teams in any kind of situation, in that stretch," the Clarets boss said.
"It can affect the team or it bonds them. In this case it seems it's bonded them, so far. Fair play to their players - they've pulled together and had a real go at it.
"The manager seems to have been focused on the football, not really too worried about everything else. Credit to them, they have got an experienced group, although they've had a knock with some injuries early season, it seems like they have more bodies in the camp now.
"They are an experienced group so I think it's a good challenge for us. Coming to Turf, we like playing at Turf and we think we can make it a tough place for teams to go."
The Clarets have strengthened since they last played, too, after Irish midfielder Jeff Hendrick joined from Derby on Deadline Day in a club-record move.
Dyche is now more content with the options at his disposal, even if a move for Poland international Kamil Grosicki was scuppered during the window's dying throes.
"We hope he can bring good competition," Dyche said of Hendrick.
"It's a great thing to have within the team - competition for places, usually, but not always, brings a competitive edge to performances.
"We think he's a good player, among others, that are here and ones we've brought in. He's still young, learning and new to the Premier League, so I think he's ready to take on the challenge.
"There were a couple of situations that got away from us. It's well-documented people in a lot stronger financial positions than us have said how demanding the window has been.
"The true value of worth is out of the window, it's whether you want to pay the price or not. That's where it's at."
