Blackburn 1-1 Hull City: Phil Brown's Tigers are thoroughbreds

Published 00:00 25/08/08 By By David Anderson

Don't expect Hull to horse around in the Premier League - despite having a thoroughbred in their ranks.

City defender Sam Ricketts comes from one of equestrian's true bluebood families. His uncle is seven-time Champion Jockey John Francome and dad is ex-world showjumping champ Derek Ricketts, performance director to the British showjumping team.

But full-back Ricketts, 26, opted for glory on two legs rather than four as a teenager when he swapped his riding boots for football boots.

The Wales star joked: "I'm the black sheep because everyone else in the family is connected with horses.

"My sister is in Ireland working with them, my dad was a world show jumping champion, and my uncle was Champion Jockey seven times.

"They all support me and I'm catching up with what they've achieved as quickly as I can.

"I used to ride until I was 13 or 14. I was a show jumper, and I wasn't bad.

"We would go to the Horse of the Year Show every year at Wembley and I'd always nip next door for the stadium tour.

"I always had the football bug and it's a dream to be playing in the Premier League with Hull four years after playing non-league with Telford."

Ricketts and Hull's bubble is yet to burst three months on from winning the play-offs, and boss Phil Brown is determined not to let them get carried away. Brown even had his players washing their own training kit until recently.

And Ricketts claims this is part of the strong ethos which binds the dressing room together.

He admitted: "I still wash my own kit - my training kit any way - and clean my boots.

"We've only just got someone in to wash our kit for us at Hull and it doesn't hurt anyone to do things like that.

"We give our all every week physically, and let our ability come through after that. We have possibly surprised a few people with the start we've made, but that is up to them."

Like his mentor Sam Allardyce, who was his guest at Ewood Park, Brown's success is down to work-rate and meticulous organisation.

In Craig Fagan and skipper Ian Ashbee, Brown possesses two of the hardest grafters in the business, while goalscorer Richard Garcia is blossoming with every game.

The winger made his Australia debut in midweek and crowned a great few days by heading an unstoppable header past Paul Robinson to earn Hull a deserved point at Blackburn.

Ricketts and his fellow defenders are also learning with every game and the only weakness is up front.

This point is not lost on Brown and he admitted his side might have recorded their first Premier League away win if they had been a bit more clinical.

Hull were caught when their offside trap failed and Jason Roberts latched on to Steven Reid's through ball to open the scoring after 38 minutes. But they showed bucket-loads of character to equalise within 80 seconds - in a game well-handled by rookie referee Stuart Attwell, who at 25 is the youngest official to take charge in the Premier League - when Garcia lost Andre Ooijer to head home Fagan's deep cross.

Rovers can point to shots from Morten Gamst Pedersen and Roque Santa Cruz, which went close, but it was Hull who finished the stronger and Caleb Folan could have done better than volley straight at keeper Robinson.

Paul Ince was disappointed at having to settle for a point from his first home game as Rovers boss, but is satisfied with four points from two matches.

And he was even happier with Santa Cruz's decision to pledge his future to the club by signing a four-year contract after a turbulent summer.

Ince said: "It's been unsettling for everyone, even Roque himself.

"We're delighted at the club because he's a talisman for all of us.

"We spent the last two weeks worrying is he going to go or is he going to stay?

"Now we've put it to bed and we can concentrate on the Premier League."

BLACKBURN 1

HULL CITY 1

Blackburn:Robinson 6, Ooijer 4, Samba 5, Nelsen 6, Warnock 6, Reid 7, Dunn 5 (Emerton 46mins 5), Mokoena 6 (Tugay 67, 5), Gamst Pedersen 5; Roberts 8 (McCarthy 81, 5), Santa Cruz 6.

Hull: Myhill 6, Ricketts 6, Gardner 6, Turner 5, Dawson 5 (Mendy 58, 5), Fagan 7, Marney 6, Ashbee d6, Garcia 7 (Barmby 79, 5), Geovanni 5 (Folan 65, 5), King 5. REFEREE: Stuart Attwell 8 ATTENDANCE: 23,439

COMPUTER

BLACKBURN 1

HULL CITY 1

HULL BATTLERS KEEP IT GOING

BALL POSSESSION

62%

38%

FACE TO FACE

6 Corners 3

2 Offside 9

73% Pass completion 69%

18 Tackles 20