Hernandez

Bruce and Hernandez claim January accolades

After winning 6 from 6 in 2016, Hull City manager Steve Bruce and club top-scorer Abel Hernandez have been rewarded with the Sky Bet Championship Player & Manager of the Month Awards respectively.  

Hernandez scored in all 4 of the Tigers’ league appearances, with goals against QPR, Cardiff and Fulham, along with a sublime hat-trick in a 6-0 win against Charlton at the KC Stadium. The Uruguayan striker has aided the club’s rise to the top of the Championship, sitting just 1 point above Middlesbrough in the automatic promotion places. Hernandez is also the 2nd top goal scorer in the division, just behind Burnley forward and ex-City target Andre Gray.

Abel told the Hull City website “I am delighted with the award but I owe my team-mates, the staff, the fans, and my family because I could not have achieved this without them. I feel like I am in the form of my career right now and I’m determined to keep this run going.”

As well as the 4 league wins, manager Steve Bruce has guided the club to the 5th Round of the FA Cup after victories against fellow promotion candidates Brighton, and League One club Bury. The 1-0 and 3-1 results saw Hull go into the 5th round draw and be matched up against Arsenal for the 3rd year in a row. Bruce received praise for granting a debut to 16-year-old left-back Josh Tymon away at Gigg Lane. The youngster impressed and given the right support, could have a bug future ahead of him; he has already been picked for the England U17 squad.

Bruce also managed a successful transfer window being able to keep his well-oiled squad together. Mohamed Diame, Ahmed Elmohamedy, Curtis Davies and Tom Huddlestone were just a few who were linked with moves away from the club to Premier League outfits but instead of outgoings, Bruce landed 2 signatures of deadline day; Leigia Warsaw keeper Dusan Kuciak for a fee of around £250,000, and Manchester United attacking midfielder, Nick Powell on loan until the end of the season.

Bruce also told the Tigers website “January was a really good month for us and we look forward to the next challenge now. It’s a big pat on the back for all of the staff here, too. The manager gets the trophy. But the staff here work tirelessly to support me in what we do so it’s congratulations to them as well.”

Hernandez won the award over Sheffield Wednesday’s Gary Hooper, Birmingham City’s Maikel Kieftenbeld and Burley’s Ben Mee. Bruce meanwhile claimed his accolade over Burnley’s Sean Duche, Nottingham Forrest’s Dougie Freedman, and Birmingham City’s Gary Rowett.

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