Steve Bruce warns against Hull complacency after first-leg victory
Saturday 14 May 2016 17:30, UK
Steve Bruce joked he could have played in goal for Hull City during their 3-0 win over Derby such was their dominance during the play-off semi-final first leg, but said his side will not be complacent in the return fixture.
The Tigers put one foot in the Sky Bet Championship play-off final with a comfortable semi-final first-leg victory at the iPro Stadium.
Goals from Abel Hernandez and Andy Robertson, in between a Jason Shackell own goal, did the damage for Bruce's men against a Derby team that didn't muster a shot on target until the 80th minute.
"I could have played in goal today - they could've wedged me in somewhere," Bruce said.
"In big games you want your big players to turn up. All of the lads that have played in the Premier League, their experience showed today. It was a really, really good performance from start to finish, which in a big game is always nice to see.
"I can't really recall my goalkeeper having to make a save. We were comfortable and worthy winners."
However, despite their dominant showing, Bruce has warned that his side will not be complacent in Tuesday's second leg at the KC Stadium.
"What we have got in our locker is complacency, and we've got to guard against that on Tuesday. The reason why we haven't made the top two is because we've thrown in a curve-ball every now and again," he added.
"If you look at us at Bolton a couple of weeks ago compared to that, then that's our Achilles heel. We've been up and down a little bit too much this season but we looked a very, very good team today and if we perform to the levels we're capable of then it's going to take a very good team to beat us."
Moses Odubajo was one of Hull City's stars, playing a huge part in the second goal and provided a constant attacking threat from right-back.
He signed for Hull for £3.5million in the summer from Brentford and Bruce is predicting a bright future for the 22-year-old.
"I should've signed him two years before I did when he was at Leyton Orient and I might have got him for £2million less than what we paid in the summer," he said.
"He played against us in the cup and was exceptional. I thought it was perhaps a too big of a jump for him as we were in the Premier League. He went to Brentford and we kept an eye on him. He's young but he's going to be a very good player.
"Last weekend he covered something like 2000m of high intensity, which is huge. Usually the average of a player is about 1000m. His statistics are huge and I'm sure today was the same. He charged up and down the wing fantastically well."
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