Hughes wary of sting in Hornets tale

9:59am Wednesday 14th May 2008

Bryan Hughes has urged his Hull team-mates to forget about the prospect of appearing at Wembley later this month and focus on progressing past Watford in Wednesday's Coca-Cola Championship play-off semi-final second leg.

Thanks to a 2-0 win in the first leg on Sunday, the Tigers are on the brink of reaching the home of English football for the first time in the club's 104-year history.

But midfielder Hughes has sounded a note of caution amid rising expectation levels saying: "To come away from Watford with a 2-0 win on Sunday has obviously raised excitement around the area and the profile of Hull has obviously gone up again as everyone thinks we're going to Wembley. Obviously, we've got another game to go yet and we've got to stay focussed - the job is not finished yet."

He added: "You can get into a bit of complacency where you've got a two-goal lead and you defend for your lives, but that's not what we are about. At home this season we've proved that we'll come out and try to score goals and I can't see us being any different.

"I've never played at Wembley, but I was there a few weeks ago to watch the FA Cup semi-final between West Brom and Portsmouth and I sampled it then.

"It is an unbelievable stadium and obviously it is the talk of the town now everyone thinks we're going to Wembley.

"But we are trying to stay focussed and we've still got a job to do. Until we finish that job off we can't think of Wembley."

Hughes has a remarkable track record where the play-offs are concerned, suffering heartache at the semi-final stage with Birmingham in 1999, 2000 and 2001 before helping Blues reach the Premier League with victory over Norwich in the final in May 2002.

The 31-year-old is now hoping his vast experience can steer Hull into the top flight for the first time, less than 12 months after joining from Charlton.

"In the semi-finals I've lost twice on penalties which is not nice, but hopefully we won't need penalties." added Hughes. "I think it's an experience to be fair that you don't forget. I think it's a nice way to get to the Premier League if you do win in the play-offs."

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