STEVE Bruce is calling upon Jay Simpson and Nick Proschwitz to hit top form and help Hull City maintain their promotion bid at Peterborough this weekend.
The Tigers' top-flight ambitions have been rocked over the last 48 hours by the loss of two of their most potent attacking threats in Sone Aluko and Ahmed Elmohamady.
Aluko was firstly ruled out for between six to eight weeks with a torn Achilles, before Elmohamady was recalled by parent club Sunderland yesterday.
It is a double blow which will see City's attacking options tested over the next fortnight, as Bruce attempts to bolster his squad before the transfer deadline.
Proschwitz and Simpson led the line in City's 2-1 FA Cup third round replay win over Leyton Orient in midweek, with the former possibly pushing himself to the head of the queue with a superb opener.
But after a frustrating week, Bruce will also consider Simpson, despite going 12 games without a goal.
"There's a space in the side to fill now and the emphasis has to be on them to go and grab it," Bruce told the Mail.
"Nick's got a wonder goal which should give him a bit of confidence. Unfortunately for Jay, though, he's doing everything but put the ball in the back of the net at the minute.
"Some of his movement was excellent and if he had taken his chance when he'd run all the way through the Leyton Orient defence, you'd have been looking at goal of the season.
"If Jay had scored his two chances he would have been the best player on the pitch by a million miles.
"He'll be disappointed not to have taken at least one of his chances, but the pair of them did okay. "On another night they could have had two or three between them."
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