Hull have provisions for relegation – Bruce

Hull City manager Steve Bruce has revealed that provisions have been made to protect the club should they suffer relegation to the Championship.

Bruce’s men sit fourth-bottom of the Premier League with six games to go and are only outside of the drop zone because of a marginally superior goal difference to Leicester City.

The Yorkshire club’s demotion to the second tier back in 2010 left Hull on the brink of financial collapse before current owner Aseem Allam stepped in and took over.

But, speaking ahead of Saturday’s visit to Crystal Palace, Bruce said: “We’re a newly promoted club which has been in the division practically 20 months, we always knew we were up against it.

“Everybody concerned takes a huge reduction in salary, the club has had a really, really stringent policy that, if we do get relegated, the club doesn’t fall into drastic times, which a lot of clubs do.

“Most players take a 40 or 50 per cent reduction [in wages]. So we’re realistic to know that, yes we want to avoid going into the Championship but we’ve also made provisions to make sure the club doesn’t leak into the realms that it was before.

“I think that’s very important for a club like ours.

“That’s the right provision to have in there, it’s sensible, and of course nobody wants it to happen, because it’s a major overhaul of the whole club again [after relegation] and you basically start all over again on your journey.

“For a club like ours, I think it’s relative that we have a stringent budget that we stick to and make sure the club doesn’t go through the horrendous times of four, five years ago before the new owners took over.”