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Hull boss Steve Bruce hoping to avoid repeat of Sunderland horror at Newcastle
STEVE BRUCE is hoping his for a better result with Hull than the last time he travelled to Newcastle with Sunderland.
Back in 2010 Sunderland travelled to St James' Park full of optimism ahead of the Tyne-Wear derby only to suffer an absolute thrashing courtesy of a Kevin Nolan hat trick and a Shola Ameobi double.
And while Steve Bruce has forgotten that afternoon, he is optimistic his Hull side can avoid a repeat on Saturday.
He said: "I just hope it's better than last time I went there and got beaten 5-1. I remember that vividly and hopefully it's a better time for me."
"I'm a Geordie at the end of the day but they won't forget where I managed once upon a time.
"It's always nice to go back even if I get a bit of stick, it's the team I followed as a boy and it's good to go home and play against them.
But Bruce knows he faces a tough task against a Newcastle side coming off the back of a good result against Aston Villa last weekend.
He said: "When you see them last week winning at Villa and look at the team they can field when (Loic) Remy is fit, when (Papiss) Cisse is back, when (Hatem) Ben Arfa is fit and (Yohan) Cabaye is still there...they are a very good side, no question about it."
And Bruce claims Newcastle pulled off a coup by holding onto Cabaye.
He added: "It's a big thing to keep hold of Cabaye.
"The one thing you don't want is to lose your big players and Cabaye has made a big impression in the north east. He's a very good player and they've done well to hang on to him."