Hull City defender James Chester feels that his side's win over Sunderland was crucial to restore belief to the squad.

The Tigers headed into their clash against Gus Poyet's men on a 10-game winless run, but they managed to end their barren spell, despite falling behind to an early goal, as Gaston Ramirez, Nikica Jelavic and Chester himself got on the scoresheet.

Chester told the club's official website: "I think the performance was a response to the nine or ten games that had gone before.

"None of us have been good enough over the last few months and the gaffer said that we needed to show some balls after the defeat to Swansea. We showed it against Sunderland. It was a massive win for us because the longer the win goes on, the more your mind starts to play tricks on you.

"Not only was it a win for us, it also drags Sunderland back into it a little bit. Now we've got a home game on Sunday that we believe we can win and if we can get three points, we can start moving up the table again."

Hull are in action against bottom-of-the-table Leicester City at the KC Stadium on Sunday.