Wolves 1 Hull 1

Record signing Kevin Doyle is confident Wolves can avoid being involved in a Barclays Premier League survival struggle if they can maintain their early season form.

Mick McCarthy's £6.5m capture can see similar traits in the Wolves players to the Reading squad which made such an impressive initial impact in the top flight.

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Doyle made his first league start for Wolves in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Hull at Molineux after having to undergo a hernia operation in July.

He formed an impressive partnership with Andy Keogh and only a goalline block by Hull skipper Michael Turner denied him a late winner and Doyle said: "We've looked good so far and, if we can keep our confidence up and keep working like we did against Hull, we will have no problems.

"It won't be just a survival battle if we can play like in that game and in the other matches we've played so far.

"Away to Manchester City, they had chances but we could have nicked a draw. Against West Ham here we looked good, even though we lost, and we won at Wigan who in the previous game had beaten Aston Villa.

"If we can keep believing we can do it, we will be fine."

Doyle added: "The squad is similar to what we had when we got promoted at Reading. There are lots of lads who have never played in the Premier League before, excited and hungry and eager to do well and also very good players.

Geovanni had given Hull a third-minute lead but Wolves grabbed a deserved point through defender Richard Stearman early in the second half and had the chances to claim victory.

Phil Brown's side, fresh from their first home league win of 2009 against Bolton last week, were relatively untroubled during the opening 45 minutes with Boaz Myhill seldom tested.

But there was more purpose and creativity about Wolves' play as they dominated the second half.

Doyle linked up well with Andy Keogh while Matt Jarvis was full of industry and running on the left side of midfield.

McCarthy is optimistic that Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, Chris Iwelumo and Michael Kightly will be able to resume training after the international break.

But defender Stephen Ward will be sidelined for up to three weeks after undergoing a knee operation.

Hull goalkeeper Boaz Myhill was disappointed his side were caught cold by Richard Stearman's equaliser 44 seconds into the second period which cancelled out Geovanni's opener.

He said: "A draw was probably a fair result. We had the best of the first half and they had the best of the second half. Any point away from home in this league is a good point.

"We are disappointed with the goal we conceded. The message going out after half-time in any dressing room at any level of football is make sure you keep it tight for 10 minutes and take it from there."

By John Curtis