Lewis Koumas scored on his debut as Hull City earned their fourth straight win by beating Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.

A scrappy contest provided few clear chances, with both sides struggling for rhythm despite occasional spells of pressure at either end.

The breakthrough finally came on 81 minutes when substitute and new loan recruit Koumas slid home after neat work from Amir Hadziahmetovic and Kyle Joseph.

Struggling Blackburn responded well but could not find a response as their winless run was stretched to eight matches, with Hull moving up to third in the table.

As their contrasting positions would suggest, Hull started the brighter of the two, with Liam Millar and Regan Slater testing the home defence, but the first half gradually drifted into a cagey, stop-start affair.

Blackburn's best spell of the game in terms of possession came after half-time, their best chance falling to newly acquired striker Mathias Jorgensen, who headed over just before the hour mark.

Tigers boss Sergej Jakirovic rang the changes after the break but but it was Koumas and Joseph - both brought on the 76th mark - who would be the decisive substitutes.

Only five minutes after his introduction, Scotland Under-21 international Joseph was fed through by Hadziahmetovic and squared it to Liverpool loanee Koumas to score from close range.

Koumas then nearly returned the favour in the 89th minute with a ball into the box but Joseph was denied by a smart save from Rovers' Balasz Toth.

The defeat leaves Rovers still mired in the Championship relegation zone ahead of Tuesday's home game against Sheffield Wednesday, while Hull extend their strong run to keep up the pressure on the top two.

Blackburn Rovers head coach Valerien Ismael told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"I think it's not about the performance today, it's not about the desire or the mentality.

"What we have to complain about is take our chances, it's as simple as that. At some point you have to take your chances when you dominate the game like this.

"You're on the front foot, on top of the opposition, and you have to get the reward and make sure you score a goal.

"I think it will help us and all of a sudden, in the second half from nothing, we concede that goal and after that late in the game, it's tough for the players because, as I said, they try to give everything in the game."

Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic told BBC Radio Humberside:

"I think this is our biggest advantage, that we can play good on the ball even when we are bad on the ball.

"Like today, we were not good on the ball. But this is also a very demanding, tough pitch. It's not easy, and Blackburn are fighting for every point.

"But we now have stability and have found balance in our team tactically. We defended the box very well because Blackburn are first in the league for number of crosses inside, which was very important.

"Maybe some decisions in the last third we could have found better options. But this is how players see the situation, and I don't have a joystick there."