STEVE Bruce is urging his Hull City side to "finish the job" in the Championship's automatic promotion race – beginning with a victory over struggling Wolves tonight.
After a pivotal weekend in the battle to reach the Premier League, City tonight head to face a Wolves side in 23rd position hunting a third consecutive win in their bold quest for a top-flight return.
The Tigers' 2-1 win at Ipswich on Saturday, coupled with third-placed Watford losing 3-2 at Peterborough, has given Bruce's side an enviable six-point lead with just four games remaining.
Seven points would guarantee promotion back to the Premier League but should Gianfranco Zola's Hornets fail to win at Millwall this evening, victory for City at Molineux would set up the prospect of clinching a top-two spot at home to Bristol City on Friday.
Such permutations are being ignored for now by a single-minded Bruce and he is calling for a ruthless streak to seal his men's fate.
"I have been in football long enough to keep on expecting a horrible or sick twist in the tale until every last thing is set in stone," he told the Mail.
"Saturday was certainly a good moment in the season. Let's just hope we will all look back on it as a really big moment.
"I'm not looking at anything beyond Wolves now. You can't. People can talk about when we could possibly get promoted all they like, but it won't mean a lot if we don't go to Wolves and do our job.
"We've got a wonderful opportunity of doing something special but you can't preempt anything. We have to finish the job off."
Just a fortnight after a damaging 1-0 defeat at home to Watford, back-to-back wins over Middlesbrough and Ipswich have swung momentum emphatically back into the hands of Bruce's men.
The equation is simple for the City boss, who said: "We need seven points from four games. That won't be easy but it's important that we just worry about ourselves and nobody else.
"You could detect a great vibe around the place coming back into work but also a focus on going to Wolves and getting a result."
Bruce will be forced into at least one change for tonight's trip to the Black Country, with Corry Evans beginning a two-match suspension following his 10th yellow card of the season at Ipswich.
Robert Koren, Saturday's match-winner, could get the nod to come into a reshuffled midfield three, but Bruce is thought to be leaning towards a full debut for January loan signing Ahmed Fathi in Evans' holding role.
The versatile Egyptian, who has impressed off the bench in wins over Middlesbrough and Ipswich, is yet to start a league game since joining from Al-Ahly, but could see his patient rewarded tonight.
International team-mate Gedo appears far less likely to be involved. A foot injury ruled him out at Ipswich and, while he was included in tonight's travelling party, he will not be considered for a start.
"We'll see how Gedo is in the morning," added Bruce. "He's travelled down to the game with us but we'll check on him and see. If there's any risk, we'll not take a chance."
