STEVE Bruce admitted he was glad to see the back of the Premier League season after Hull City concluded their preparations for the FA Cup final with a 2-0 defeat to Everton.
City suffered a third consecutive loss when soundly beaten by the Toffees at the KC Stadium yesterday, ensuring a record-breaking season ended with a final standing of 16th.
Bruce again bemoaned the distraction of an eagerly-anticipated date with Arsenal at Wembley, apologising for his side's "pathetic" finale to the league campaign.
But with a first piece of silverware just 90 minutes away this weekend, the City boss is relishing the chance to turn his full attention towards the biggest game in the club's history.
Bruce said: "It looks as if we have been enjoying the FA Cup for too long, in my opinion. It has been difficult since we won at Wembley to focus everyone's attention on the Premier League.
"We have been like that for weeks. It has been so difficult to get people where they should be for the Premier League.
"We're not a team that can just saunter around. Nowhere near. People tell me it is human nature and I can understand it to a degree. None of them have played in the Cup final before, so they're desperate to play. And we have never been there as a club.
"But it is still disappointing. I have got no problems and we will prepare as best we can. I am just glad it is upon us because for the last few weeks we have been nowhere near the level we need to be.
"I hope we can reward those fans with a big performance at Wembley and make them proud."
City were second best to Everton yesterday and rarely looked capable of signing off the Premier League season with a flourish.
Goals from James McCarthy and Romelu Lukaku gave the Toffees a deserved victory and ensured City travel to the capital without a win since they were last there against Sheffield United in the semi-final.
The positives of yesterday came from the return of three leading lights. Allan McGregor, Paul McShane and Sone Aluko all made their comebacks from injury to underline their availability against Arsenal.
That has provided food for thought for Bruce, who said: "I have something in mind but the one thing we can do is look forward to the occasion. Though, in my experience, you have to win the thing to really enjoy it.
"We are not just going for a day out. We are off to play the mighty Arsenal and see what we can do."
City's final standing of 16th bettered the 17th-place finish of 2008-09 to set a new record high for the club. There was regret that the second half of the season returned just 14 points from a possible 57, but Bruce believes it should not detract from a mission accomplished.
"Let's try and look forward to it and for eight months of the season we have been fantastic," he added.
"We have been 11th, 12th or 13th for around 70 per cent of the season. That is where maybe we could have been finishing.
"If someone had promised me 16th at the start of the season and safety with two games to go, I wouldn't have thought it possible. We have got ourselves in a decent position."
