Dillon Phillips the hero as Hull beat Blackburn on penalties to advance in cup

Goalkeeper Dillon Phillips was the hero as Hull defeated Sky Bet Championship rivals Blackburn 4-3 on penalties to reach the FA Cup fourth round.

A drab goalless draw where clear-cut chances were few and far between over 120 minutes sent this tie to spot-kicks, and Phillips saved Rovers’ first two attempts from Yuki Ohashi and Moussa Baradji.

Hull captain Lewie Coyle was thwarted by Blackburn custodian Balazs Toth, but Kyle Joseph, Oli McBurnie, Charlie Hughes and David Akintola were all on target to get Hull into the next round.

The Tigers, back in action for the first time since a controversial late postponement against Watford last week, made much of the running against a Blackburn side that made eight changes to their XI.

But they were forced into a late change before kick-off as Kasey Palmer replaced Matt Crooks and there was a further reshuffle as Darko Gyabi injured his groin in the 11th minute and came off for Regan Slater.

The double setback perhaps explained Hull’s disjointed display against a callow Blackburn line-up, although the hosts had the only shot on target over a scrappy and dour 90 minutes as Liam Millar was denied by the legs of Toth at the end of the first half.

Regan Slater nodded over in extra time before being cleaned out by Toth, who then did well to palm away McBurnie’s header while Akintola clattered the crossbar with a sweetly struck volleyed rebound.

Axel Henriksson had Blackburn’s first and only shot on target with a long-range dipping effort that Phillips tipped away, but neither side threatened again as the match went to penalties.

The first three were saved – two by Phillips and one by Toth – as goals continued to prove elusive before both teams found their stride, and Akintola held his nerve with the decisive spot-kick.