Bruce laments ´hardest hours´ in management after Livermore suspension

Hull boss Steve Bruce lamented his ‘hardest hours’ in management after seeing his side lose 2-0 at Tottenham in the wake of Jake Livermore’s positive drug test and suspension.

Livermore, who was an £8million signing from Tottenham last June, was suspended by both Hull and the Football Association on Friday “pending further investigations” after he allegedly tested positive for cocaine.

The midfielder’s former club subsequently pushed Hull to the brink of Premier League relegation by inflicting a 2-0 defeat on them at White Hart Lane, courtesy of goals from Nacer Chadli and Danny Rose.

Afterwards, Bruce conceded that the events of the week had taken a toll on him.

“It has been unquestionably my hardest 24-36 hours in management. It is hard to put your head around things,” he said. “As always, you have to handle it and not let it affect people.

“We are hugely disappointed [with Saturday’s result] but we have to move on, dust ourselves down and prepare as well as we can in a tough week.”

He added on BBC Radio Humberside: “We knew [about Livermore] on Tuesday night.

“Shocked, saddened, disappointed, angry, frustrated – they all come to mind. I never thought that it would be possible [for one of his players to fail a drugs test].

“I’m sure the mitigating circumstances will come out and that’s not for me to judge. We have got to wait for the second result [the B sample] and the FA procedure but at the end of the day, I feel responsible like everybody else because he is my player.

“Jake has let everybody down it’s simple as that. None more, he has let himself down.”