Tuesday 5 May 2015 05:55, UK
Hull City manager Steve Bruce was adamant his team will keeping fighting for Premier League survival after watching his side slump to a 3-1 defeat to Arsenal at the KC Stadium.
The in-form Gunners cruised to a comfortable win thanks to two goals from Alexis Sanchez and one from Aaron Ramsey, with Stephen Quinn grabbing a consolation for the Tigers.
Despite the setback, Bruce insisted his side will bounce back and knows they have no time to feel sorry for themselves with a crunch clash with Burnley looming on Saturday.
“The one thing you’ve got to do is respond and they have gotten used to that over the last two or three years,” Bruce told Sky Sports.
“It is one of them difficult moments – of course it is – but we have to dust ourselves down and get ready for the weekend and get ready for the next three games.
“We are still in there with a shout, we are still out of the relegation zone at the moment and we have big games coming up.”
Bruce was left bemoaning Hull’s luck after watching Arsenal race into a 2-0 lead thanks to two deflected goals from Sanchez and Ramsey in the space of five minutes.
“We played a very good team and obviously when you playing against them you need the bounce of the ball to go your way,” Bruce said.
“The first two goals are two deflections so it is hard enough playing against them anyway. Up until then there was not really much in it but all of a sudden, within 10/12 minutes, the game is all over.
“When you are trying to chase it with the quality Arsenal have got, with their pace and their quality on the counter-attack, it was one of them really difficult evenings.”
On a night bereft of many positives for Bruce, he took solace in the way his team performed in the second half, after finding themselves 3-0 down at the break.
“Thankfully we stuck at it which was pleasing and we have got a big game now at the weekend,” Bruce said.
“The one thing you wanted to do in the second half was make sure it was not one of them ridiculously horrible evenings and to be fair, they stuck at it in difficult circumstances.
“You want to go and chase the game but you don’t want to leave yourself wide open.
“We gave ourselves a little chance with the goal and then McShane had a header which might have made it interesting.
“But today we played against a very good side who are top of their form at the moment and we found it very, very difficult.”
Hull’s loss to Arsenal saw them move below Leicester on goal difference and leaves them one point above the relegation zone with games against Burnley, Tottenham and Manchester United to come.
