Hull’s bottle has Brown dreaming

His acknowledgement that such celebrations would be premature is still accurate despite his team moving out of the relegation zone with a hard-earned point.

Brown’s side, who entertain newly-crowned champions Manchester United on Sunday, lead 18th-placed Newcastle, who have a trip to Aston Villa to save their Premier League status, by a single point but with far worse goal difference.

Going on form, the most likely event on Sunday is that both teams lose and Hull, on the slide since November with two wins in 28 matches, stay up and while Brown remains bullish about his team’s prospects, the teams that finish 16th and 17th will only have survived by default. Not that they will care one jot.

Traditionally, 40 points has been a threshold for the worst 17 teams in the Premier League and although the fact that 35 may be enough to keep a team in the top flight leaves concerns about the nature of the league, that will not cloud the drama of the final day.

The brashness of Hull, which is typified by the strutting Brown, who points both hands high to the sky like Freddy Mercury when his name is sung by his fans, was starting to grate even before the drop down the table and the so-called ‘Eastlands episode’, when the manager conducted a half-time dressing-down in the Hull penalty area.

Even so, the strange optimism and confidence that permeates his squad at the KC stadium has not subsided even though they have failed to win 26 of their last 28 matches.

There is a defiance to them and on a day of such importance that is a mind-set that could see them triumph.

United have a Champions League final to play three days after their trip to Humberside and although Alex Ferguson has used the integrity of the league as a subject matter to motivate teams playing against his rivals in the past, he will forget that when he prepares a fringe team to play in East Yorkshire.

When George Boateng spoke after this draw, earned thanks to Craig Fagan cancelling out Gretar Steinsson’s opener, there was an overriding sense from the Hull camp that they truly believe that Newcastle have no chance of even a point at Villa Park and the veteran midfielder was only too happy to heap the pressure on Alan Shearer’s men.

It almost seems as though Boateng feels Aston Villa, and not Barcelona, should be facing United in the Champions League final. “Newcastle have the tougher game,’’ he said. “They couldn’t beat Fulham at home, and going to Villa Park is harder than that. Aston Villa want to finish their season on a high, they’re playing a team that is struggling, the game is sold out, so I would expect Villa to do their duty. I’m quite confident in a way that if we can get a point, I don’t see Newcastle winning at Villa Park.

“Four days later United have a massive Champions League final so I hope their kit man will be on their team sheet, although he might be a very good player as well.’’

The lingering feeling is that while United could keep the ball for 90 minutes at the KC stadium, they will not match the fight Gary Megson’s Bolton put up on Saturday.

“We were talking to the coaching staff of one of the teams that might get relegated and they felt they had much better players than us in every position but not the heart and the desire that our people have got,’’ Megson said.

Even if he was not talking about Newcastle, he could have been.

REFEREE: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire) 7: This was always going to be full-blooded stuff but considering the kinds of challenges flying around, three bookings tells the story of Walton’s approach.

MATCH RATING: **** Without the context, this wasn’t a game you would stop to watch in the park but factor in the drama and tension and it was a cracker that Hull should have won. A good appetiser for Sunday’s fun.