Tigers purring as Gulf break works a treat

PHIL BROWN has reason to believe Hull will not wilt in the heat of the Championship promotion race. The Tigers have ghosted their way into the tightest tussle to gain Premier League status for years.

Saturday’s 2-0 win at lowly Leicester was Hull’s fifth in the last six games and Brown revealed how a warm-weather training camp has helped his side on in recent weeks.

“We went on warm weather training to Dubai in January and that injection of fitness work and togetherness is paying dividends,” said Brown, whose side have not tasted top-flight action in their near 104-year history but are now within three points of top spot.

“We have a target we set when we were in Dubai and we are exceeding that target at the moment. What we have to do is make sure we win the next game.”

Leicester avoided slipping into the bottom three but that was little consolation for boss Ian Holloway, who was furious with his side’s failure to build on their outstanding 4-1 win at West Brom.

“We have six games left and all I will say is we will have to do a damn sight better than that,” he said.

Gary Johnson urged his Bristol City side to forget a bad day at the office in their 2-1 defeat at Cardiff.

The visitors’ misery was compounded when their manager was sent to the stand after arguing with the fourth official.

But Johnson said: “We have to get over it. There are six games left for us to obtain the points we need for promotion.”

City held on to second place after Watford could only draw 1-1 at Plymouth, the Hornets’ seventh consecutive draw in the Championship.

“You cannot accuse us of not going for it and, but for a fantastic late clearance off the line, we would have taken all three points,” Adrian Boothroyd, the manager, said. “The weather spoiled it a bit. It was like a hurricane out there, and there was a swirling wind which made if difficult for both sides.

“I think it’s definitely a point gained although we are disappointed not win, especially as we were left playing against 10 men for a number of minutes.

“I was disappointed about the goal we conceded we thought there was a hint of offside about it, although we haven’t seen it again. With the pace at the back we have we should not have been caught out like that.”

Elsewhere, Norwich hammed rock-bottom Colchester 5-1, with Jamie Cureton claiming a hat-trick against his former club.

Wolves and QPR drew 3-3- and Sheffield Wednesday and Crystal Palace also drew 2-2, while Southampton’s crunch game with Coventry finished goalless, a result which helps neither side in their fight to avoid relegation.

There were wins for Sheffield United at Barnsley, Preston North End against Burnley and Ipswich at Scunthorpe.