Football
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Steve Bruce says Hull City still in a 'horrible dogfight'

Hull may be looking to stretch their unbeaten run to four matches against Stoke, but manager Steve Bruce has warned his players they remain in a "horrible dogfight."

The Tigers took just three points from a possible 12 in January and their prospects were looking bleak after successive defeats to West Brom, West Ham and Newcastle.

But a battling draw at Manchester City raised spirits and victories over fellow strugglers Aston Villa and QPR see Bruce's boys head into Saturday's match in 15th place.

There is no sense of complacency, though, with Bruce well aware of how quickly the picture could change again between now and May.

"The result against Manchester City gave everyone a lift at the right time and back-to-back wins against teams around us... how good that feels," he said. "Two weeks ago we were in the bottom three and now we're four points clear, but we've got to maintain it.

"We're not out of the woods yet. We're in a horrible dogfight and there's eight or nine teams in with us who are all feeling it.

"If you can put another couple of results together at this particular stage of the season it will really help. They're all really big games -- how often have we said that? -- but within a week we're nearly down to single figures in terms of games to play."

Should Hull emerge from their trip to face the Potters and Tuesday night's home clash with Sunderland with two positive results, they would surely be a long way towards guaranteeing a third straight season in the top flight.

Bruce is aiming for a regular seat at the top table and sees Stoke as a perfect example of what is possible.

"It's a really healthy club," he said. "That's something we aim to achieve here. Stoke and West Brom are two types of club we can take an example from.

"They're well run, they built their training grounds up and the infrastructure to go with it, and over the years they've steadily become established Premier League teams.

"That's something we can aspire to. The longer we're here, the better the squad becomes and the better facilities become."

The only sour note for Bruce this week has been the continued absence of midfielder Mohamed Diame.

The Senegal midfielder was a revelation in the weeks following his summer switch from West Ham, scoring four times in his first five matches, but he has not been seen since a knee injury on Dec. 3. A new setback last week scuppered his planned return and he is not yet back in training.

"He won't make this weekend and I don't think he'll make Tuesday," said Bruce. "I'm hoping after this weekend he can join in but he certainly needs another 10 days to two weeks, I'd have thought."

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