Ten is the magic number for Phelan and Tigers

Ten wins. That was the simple target set by the former Manchester United captain, who firmly believed any side with a double-figure tally in the wins column would stay up.

He was not totally right. Four clubs in the last 10 years have gone down with those 10 wins, including Sheffield United in the 2006-07 season.

But, as a rule of thumb, Bruce’s belief has proved not to be too wide of the mark. Mike Phelan would not be drawn this week when asked by The Yorkshire Post if he considered 10 wins to be the principal target for the Tigers this season.

But the Hull head coach did admit that an important milestone had been reached with victory at home to Southampton last Sunday, a result that left the East Riding club just a point adrift of West Ham United, Middlesbrough and Crystal Palace.

“I did say to the players a couple of weeks ago that I wanted 10 points as soon as possible,” said the Tigers’ Lancastrian chief. “That is a good marker, 10 points, 10 games.

“A lot of teams would be happy with that. We missed that by one game. But now we have got to that stage, more or less, then I am greedy for more. The players know that.

“I felt we could have had a couple of more points along the way, if I am honest. We won’t let the players get carried away because of that. We can only look forward and not back.”

Reading (2007-08), Blackpool (2010-11) and Bolton (2011-12) are the other clubs who have won 10 games over the past decade but still been relegated.

Pressed on whether his old manager’s target of wins applied this time around, Phelan said: “This is a big league this time, all those teams at the top fighting it out amongst themselves.

“It is important we stay level-headed and composed about things, and try to take points from the games we feel are ‘winnable’. It is that way you stay in the mix, which is important.

“Quite a few teams are doing that at the moment. But, when you are in the groove, you have to stay in the groove. We performed as well at Watford as we did against Southampton. But didn’t get anything.”