Hull City reached the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time in six years after coming through a penalty shootout with fellow Championship side Blackburn Rovers.

A poor game in front of a sparse crowd at MKM Stadium could not produce a goal in more than 120 minutes before penalties settled it.

It was Tigers goalkeeper Dillon Phillips saving spot-kicks from Yuki Ohashi and Moussa Baradji that proved decisive.

The initial 90 minutes produced just one shot on target in a match lacking quality, although Hull substitute David Akintola came closest to a goal when he struck the bar with a volley in extra-time.

Valerien Ismael had made eight changes to his Blackburn side with two debutants and two players making their first start as they battle injuries and poor form in the league on the back of one win in their previous 10 league games and they used seven players aged 22 and under across the whole match.

The Tigers, only outside the play-offs on goal difference, had made five alterations, which including losing Matt Crooks in the warm-up.

They then suffered a further setback inside the opening 10 minutes as Darko Gyabi, who has featured in all but one league game since joining the club in September, went off with what appeared to be a serious injury as he tried to turn.

In a tepid first half, the only chance came in the final note of stoppage time as Rovers goalkeeper Balazs Toth, back after two months out with a knee injury, made a smothering save from Canada winger Liam Millar.

The second period was little better as neither side showed enough quality to prevent what felt like the inevitable arrival of extra time.

Toth made a good save from Oli McBurnie's header before Akintola crashed the rebound off the bar in the match's best moment, while Phillips was finally called into action when he had to tip over a misdirected cross from Axel Henriksson.

But his penalty saves ensured the Tigers will be in the hat on Monday evening, whereas Rovers are left to concentrate on avoiding relegation.

Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic told BBC Radio Humberside:

"It was a difficult game. It went bad for us from the warm-up with Crooksy [Matt Crooks]. He felt something in the quad, so we had to change.

"Then after 10 minutes, Darko also felt something so that was a big issue for us so it gave us a completely different plan for this game.

"This is my first victory on penalties as a coach. I've lost five or six, so I was not too optimistic!

"But I must give credit to Dillon Phillips. He was fantastic all game and then saved two penalties."

Blackburn Rovers head coach Valerien Ismael told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"We made a brilliant performance when you see that we were without 12 players today - 10 injured players and two we left at home, Sondre [Tronstad] and Toddy [Cantwell].

"Academy players made their debut and it was interesting to see that.

"Hull played a strong team. We didn't see any difference. We were really good in our press, our intensity.

"We played really well but we didn't create the big, big chances. But I'm really proud of the boys and what they did today. It was a great away performance and at the end, it is just a lottery."