Soccer-Hull must add more players in January, says Silva

Jan 11 ( Reuters) - Newly-appointed Hull City manager Marco Silva believes he needs to add more players to the squad if the basement club are to survive the Premier League relegation battle.

Silva failed to name a full 18-member squad for Hull's 2-0 League Cup semi-final defeat in the first leg at Old Trafford on Tuesday after midfielder Jake Livermore missed the game due to illness.

The 39-year-old manager dismissed transfer reports linking top scorer Robert Snodgrass to West Ham United, insisting the club will only look to improve the squad in January.

"I don't know. I am in the game, I don't know about this (Snodgrass) offer. Of course, without doubt (we need Snodgrass to help us survive)," Silva, who replaced Mike Phelan last week, told Sky Sports.

"We'll see, at the moment they are important players, we need to improve our roster with quality players, not only one, not only two, we need some players to improve our roster."

The East Yorkshire club have managed 13 points in 20 games, having failed to registered a single league victory since early November.

The Portuguese manager will prepare the side for his league debut at home against ninth-placed Bournemouth on Saturday before visiting leaders Chelsea on Jan. 22. (Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)