91�ȱ�

Hull City prepared for the Championship play-offs in style, coming from behind to thrash Rotherham United.

Rotherham led through Lee Frecklington but goals from Robert Snodgrass, Abel Hernandez, Jake Livermore and Mohamed Diame put Hull 4-1 up by half-time.

Livermore added his second and the hosts' fifth after the break and the visitors slipped to 21st in the table.

Victory secured Hull home advantage in the second leg of their play-off semi-final against fifth-placed Derby.

Steve Bruce named arguably his strongest side, resisting the chance to rest key players, and was rewarded with a classy, bicycle kick from Hernandez - the Uruguayan's 20th league goal of the season.

Snodgrass' fine volley had cancelled out Frecklington's strike into the top corner, and the hosts netted five times between the 25th and 59th minutes.

Rotherham, who had been looking for a league double over the Tigers, dropped one place in the table as Fulham beat Bolton.

Neil Warnock's side had gone 11 games unbeaten before last Saturday's loss to Blackburn but now end the season with consecutive defeats.

Hull had been winless on the final day of their previous 11 seasons, with four draws and seven losses.

Hull manager Steve Bruce: "We're always saying it's nice to have a bit of momentum and it was good to see today. We really looked a very good side.

"It's nice to go in with a bit of impetus but they are two huge games to play in. All of my big players and the experienced ones were playing today."

Rotherham manager Neil Warnock: "We started the game well but we had that 20-minute period where we just lost the plot.

"We had to play for our pride in the second half, I didn't want to get battered by eight or nine goals."