Hull City manager Marco Silva has encouraged his side to put the pivotal win against Liverpool behind them and show their "real value" with another positive result against Arsenal on Saturday lunchtime.

"We have to continue to show our best on the pitch"

Silva admitted that "last weekend was important because we won three points" but has suggested the focus now is purely on Arsenal.

He added: “We take those points but now we forget the game because in my mind all we do now is prepare for the match against Arsenal."

The Portugese boss is keen to prove that the 2-0 win was not a fluke, explaining> “We have to continue to show our best on the pitch and prove that what we did last week in terms of the result is our real value."

Silva is under no illusions that this weekend's fixture will be another challenging encounter. He admitted: "This will be a tough, tough game for us but we like this challenge and we want to show again that we are ready to play against these teams."

Hull celebrate Niasse's goal against Liverpool (photo: Getty Images)
Hull celebrate Niasse's goal against Liverpool (photo: Getty Images)

"The same spirit, attitude and team performance need to be shown"

The Hull manager believes that the key to success will be approaching this fixture as they did against Liverpool, stating: “It is a new match and we need to continue to do our work to progress our performances. The same spirit, the same attitude and the same team performance need to be shown."

He added the importance of finding the balance between respecting Arsenal and not being fearful of their quality. He said: “We are playing against a really big team in this league again this weekend and they have fantastic players. I want my players to respect Arsenal but nothing more because I want us to play with confidence and without fear."

Hull make the trip to North London without injured duo Michael Dawson and Abel Hernandez who will be sidelined for several weeks after picking up injuries in the last week.

However loanee Lazar Markovic is available after missing out due to ineligibility against his parent club last weekend and Ahmed Elmohamady returns from the Africa Cup of Nations where he earned a runners-up medal with Egypt.

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