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Sam Ricketts ticks most of the boxes when it comes to players getting their first taste of the Premier League at the age of 26. The Hull City defender has had to fight his way from non-League football to the top flight but the Wales international also has an unlikely background in showjumping.

His father, Derek, a former world showjumping champion, has missed Ricketts’s first two matches because he is the GB eventing team’s performance manager and has been at the Olympics in Beijing, while his uncle, John Francombe, was champion jockey seven times.

Ricketts, though, chose a career in football, giving up equestrianism in his teens, and has finally arrived at the top, as Hull, with four points from their opening two matches, continue to look comfortable in their new surroundings.

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“We have possibly surprised a few people with the start we’ve made, but that’s up to them,” he said. “The big test will be if we can maintain our concentration towards the end of a long season, when we’re playing three times a week.

“I used to ride until I was 13 or 14. I wasn’t bad and I had the rosettes pinned on my wall. I’m the black sheep because everyone else in the family is connected with horses. We would go to the Horse of the Year Show every year at Wembley and every year I’d nip next door for the stadium tour. I was dazzled by it and I’d stand there picturing myself out on that pitch.”

Those days are long gone now and Ricketts and his team-mates are showing plenty of signs that they belong on the big stage. Of particular significance was the way that they responded immediately to falling behind at Ewood Park.

Incorrectly, they felt that Jason Roberts was offside when he raced on to Steven Reid’s through-ball to put the home team ahead in the 38th minute, but two minutes later Hull were level after Craig Fagan crossed and Richard Garcia looped a header over Paul Robinson. Phil Brown’s team could even have taken all three points, Robinson saving from Caleb Folan and Ricketts in added time.

Roberts, who handed in a transfer request in January because of a lack of first-team opportunities, is looking well worth his place and said: “People have shown belief in me and given me the opportunity to show what I can do, so hopefully I can grab that with both hands.”

Blackburn Rovers (4-4-2): P Robinson 6 — A Ooijer 7, C Samba 6, R Nelsen 7, S Warnock 6 — S Reid 6, D Dunn 7 (sub: B Emerton, 46min 5), A Mokoena 5 (sub: Tugay Kerimoglu, 67 6), M G Pedersen 6 — J Roberts 8 (sub: B McCarthy, 81), R Santa Cruz 6. Substitutes not used: J Brown, D Simpson, K Treacy, M Derbyshire. Next: West Ham United (a).

Hull City (4-4-2): B Myhill 6 — S Ricketts 6, M Turner 8, A Gardner 7, A Dawson 6 (sub: B Mendy, 59 5) — C Fagan 7, I Ashbee 7, D Marney 7, R Garcia 7 (sub: N Barmby, 79) — Geovanni 7 (sub: C Folan, 65 6), M King 6. Substitutes not used: M Duke, W Brown, D Windass, P Halmosi. Booked: Ashbee. Next: Wigan Athletic (h).