Is there light at the end of the tunnel for Hull City?

Can Steve Bruce mastermind survival for Hull City?

Things are looking bleak for Hull but after a good 45 minutes at West Ham could they still survive?

How things have changed for Hull City in a short space of time.

A year ago, Steve Bruce was welcoming January signings Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic to the KC Stadium and the Tigers were set for an enthralling FA Cup run that would take them to within a whisker of lifting the famous trophy at Wembley last May.

This season began with much hope but they failed in their bid to qualify for the Europa League group stages and now find themselves out of the FA Cup, in the relegation zone and with a long list of injuries.

A return to the Championship is on the cards - is there any reason to suggest Bruce can rescue Hull from their current plight?

Injuries have taken a serious toll on Hull's season. Sunday's defeat to West Ham at Upton Park came at a cost of more than just another three points lost.

Defender James Chester dislocated his shoulder and will have to undergo surgery. The manager's son Alex was also called ashore with a thigh injury and could miss the visit of Newcastle at the end of January when Hull return to action.

At the other end of the field, Bruce currently finds himself without the strikers responsible for almost half of Hull's 20 Premier League goals this season.

Abel Hernandez and Jelavic both went off injured in the 1-0 reverse at West Brom last weekend - another key defeat at a struggling rival.

Also in the treatment room are Liam Rosenior, Andy Robertson, Mohamed Diame, Gaston Ramirez and Robert Snodgrass.

Little wonder that Bruce declared in the wake of the 3-0 loss at West Ham that it is "all hands to the pump" for his squad right now.

Bruce says he is targeting one new face before the transfer window closes but how he must wish he could bring in the kind of morale-boosting signings that Long and Jelavic proved to be this time last year.

Hull turned a 5m profit on Republic of Ireland international Long when he moved on to Southampton in the summer but, given their current striking crisis, they would surely have been better off keeping him at the club.

Hull have managed only four league wins from 22 games and Bruce will be counting his blessings that Christmas was kind to his side.

Victories away at Sunderland on Boxing Day and at home to out-of-sorts Everton on New Year's Day have helped steady the ship and keep Hull from dropping to the foot of the table.

Their problems were laid bare in between those wins however when they fell at home to Leicester City - giving Nigel Pearson's team a real leg up in the process.

Neither Jelavic nor Hernandez are close to a return to action and that is a massive worry for Bruce.

On current prognosis, his two main strikers could miss the next five league games.

That run starts with a home game against a Newcastle side only victorious twice in ten games and which has their own set of problems to contend with.

Like Everton on New Year's Day, Hull will be seeking to take advantage of an opponent enduring a rough spell.

Bruce then takes his team to the Etihad Stadium before a home double-header that could decide Hull's fate in the top division.

Goal-shy Aston Villa arrive on February 10 before QPR - currently without a single point away from home this season - on February 21.

Bruce has been in the game long enough to know that he must get results in those games if Hull are not to slip back into the Championship come May.

Right now, relegation looks the most likely outcome.