Steve Bruce: Hull players not concerned with £200m promotion windfall, they just want to perform on the biggest stage
- Hull face Sheffield Wednesday in Championship play-off final on Saturday
- The potential windfall for the winner will reach almost £200million
- Steve Bruce says the players are not concerned about the money
- The Hull manager says they just want to perform at the highest level
Hull boss Steve Bruce insists his players will give no thought to the estimated £200million winners' prize up for grabs in Saturday's Sky Bet Championship play-off final against Sheffield Wednesday once out on the pitch.
Bruce is one game away from guiding the Tigers straight back to the Barclays Premier League after relegation last season and ranks it as one of the biggest in his career as either player or manager.
The jackpot for Championship winners has risen dramatically in recent years but Bruce says performing on the biggest stage and not the huge potential windfall is what motivates his players.
Steve Bruce guided Hull City to the Championship play-off final after beating Derby 3-2 on aggregate
Hull supporters let off flares on the pitch in celebration of Hull's 3-2 aggregate victory over Derby County
'This of course ranks up with the biggest for a long, long time because of what's at stake,' Bruce told the media at KC Stadium.
'If you can get into the Premier League now it can really secure your club with the amount of money which is washing about, it's quite unbelievable. So for a club like our's it would make a big difference.
'But the one thing about a footballer, the ones I've got used to, the one thing they don't worry about when they go on to a pitch is money.
'All this it's a £200m game, for them it's to perform on the biggest stage and who's going to be the hero if there is going to be one.'
Bruce won promotion to the top flight twice with former club Birmingham, once via the play-offs, and steered Hull to automatic promotion to the Premier League at the end of his first season in charge in 2013.
No other manager has achieved four promotions to the Premier League.
Thousands of Hull City supporters invaded the pitch after watching their side book their place at Wembley
When asked how he will handle the pressure, Bruce said: 'You wake up on the Saturday morning and you put yourself into action. You start. It's part of what you do.
'I've been fortunate, near enough to 1,000 (games) as a player and something like 800 as a manager and in among that lot I've had a few big games.
'It's a huge game for obvious reasons and over the years the play-offs have been dramatic and have they been going for 30 years now someone told me? I was shocked at that.
'They've made the end of the season a truly great spectacle so big game, big occasion and you can obviously detect that when you see everybody here in the room.'
Hull hung on after going 2-0 down in the second leg against Derby after winning the first 3-0
Bruce says his players are not concerned with the cash on offer from the Premier League
Bruce also guided Hull to the FA Cup final in 2014 when they lost 3-2 to Arsenal and hopes his players can call on their big-game experience.
'We've got a squad that has been there before in the last couple of years, let's hope that's a bit of an advantage,' he added.
'We've got some good players and let's hope we can achieve what we want to achieve.'
Bruce, who admitted he had not heard of Sheffield Wednesday head coach Carlos Carvalhal before this season, said the Portuguese had put together the South Yorkshire club's best side that he could remember.
The Tigers boss also confirmed goalkeeper Allan McGregor (back) will not recover in time but every other outfield player was fit and in contention.
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