Bruce and Zola now expect to be fighting to bitter end

WATFORD manager Gianfranco Zola believes the race for second place in the Championship will go all the way to the final game of the season.
Watford manager Gianfranco Zola (right) and Hull City manager Steve Bruce on the touchline during the npower Football League Championship match at the KC Stadium, Hull. (Picture: Anna Gowthorpe/PA Wire).Watford manager Gianfranco Zola (right) and Hull City manager Steve Bruce on the touchline during the npower Football League Championship match at the KC Stadium, Hull. (Picture: Anna Gowthorpe/PA Wire).
Watford manager Gianfranco Zola (right) and Hull City manager Steve Bruce on the touchline during the npower Football League Championship match at the KC Stadium, Hull. (Picture: Anna Gowthorpe/PA Wire).

With Cardiff City seven points clear at the summit with a game in hand, the scrap for the second automatic promotion place appears to be between Hull and the Hornets, with fourth-placed Crystal Palace six points adrift of Steve Bruce’s side following a horrendous Easter.

The Yorkshire club still hold the advantage, knowing that the destiny of the race for the Premier League remains in their own hands.

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However, Zola said: “Tuesday was a real six-pointer for us. They would have gone seven points clear with six games to go.

“You can imagine with the good team that they are, and with a good manager like Steve (Bruce) is, it would have been such a difficult thing to catch up with them.

“Now, it (the promotion race) will go down to the end.”

Watford’s run-in starts on Saturday with the visit of leaders Cardiff for a fixture that will be shown live in the tea-time slot.

Away games at Peterborough United and Millwall follow on April 6 and 13, respectively, before Blackburn Rovers visit Vicarage Road.

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A trip to Leicester City follows on the penultimate weekend of the season before the curtain comes down on Saturday, May 4 with a home match against Leeds United.

Following Tuesday’s 1-0 win for Watford – a result which dashed City’s hopes of moving seven points clear of the chasing pack – Zola’s managerial counterpart at the KC also admits the fight for second place is likely to go the distance.

Bruce said: “A win would have given us a nice lead and a nice cushion with six games to go. But I have been at the club eight months and know we are not going to do things easy. I have never done things easy, either.

“If we are going to do it (automatic promotion), we are going to do it the hard way, like you would expect the Championship to be.

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“Even with six games to go, I would still expect there to be twists and turns in it.”

The City chief has a few selection headaches to solve before welcoming out-of-form Middlesbrough this weekend.

Midfield man David Meyler will be serving the second of a two-game ban after collecting his 10th booking of the season in the 1-0 win at Huddersfield.

Stephen Quinn, though, is likely to win a recalll to the starting line-up after only making the bench against the Hornets.

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George Boyd’s move into midfield – something that allowed Gedo to partner Jay Simpson up front – also seemed to negate some of his threat, leaving Bruce with a headache ahead of a game that his side must win to ensure they go into back-to-back away games at Ipswich and Wolves still in the top two.