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Hull boss Steve Bruce insists his players will give no thought to the estimated £200m winners prize up for grabs in Saturdays Sky Bet Championship play-off final against Sheffield Wednesday once out on the pitch. Bruce is one game away from guiding the Tigers straight back to the Premier League after relegation last season and ranks it as one of the biggest in his career as either player or manager.The jackpot for Championship winners has risen dramatically in recent years but Bruce says performing on the biggest stage and not the huge potential windfall is what motivates his players. This of course ranks up with the biggest for a long, long time because of whats at stake, Bruce told the media at the KC Stadium on Tuesday ahead of Saturdays game, which can be seen live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 4pm.If you can get into the Premier League now, it can really secure your club with the amount of money which is washing about, its quite unbelievable.So for a club like us, it would make a big difference. But the one thing about a footballer, the ones Ive got used to, the one thing they dont worry about when they go on to a pitch is money.All this its a £200m game... for them, its to perform on the biggest stage and whos going to be the hero if there is going to be one.Bruce won promotion to the top flight twice with former club Birmingham, once via the play-offs, and steered Hull to automatic promotion to the Premier League at the end of his first season in charge in 2013.No other manager has achieved four promotions to the Premier League.When asked how he will handle the pressure, Bruce said: You wake up on the Saturday morning and you put yourself into action. You start. Its part of what you do. Highlights of Hulls 1-0 win over Bristol City in the 2008 Championship play-off final Ive been fortunate, near enough to 1,000 (games) as a player and something like 800 as a manager and in among that lot Ive had a few big games.Its a huge game for obvious reasons and over the years the play-offs have been dramatic and have they been going for 30 years now someone told me? I was shocked at that.Theyve made the end of the season a truly great spectacle so big game, big occasion and you can obviously detect that when you see everybody here in the room.Bruce also guided Hull to the FA Cup final in 2014 when they lost 3-2 to Arsenal and hopes his players can call on their big-game experience. Highlights of Hulls 3-0 semi-final first-leg win at Derby in the Championship playoffs Weve got a squad that has been there before in the last couple of years, lets hope thats a bit of an advantage, he added.Weve got some good players and lets hope we can achieve what we want to achieve.Bruce, who admitted he had not heard of Sheffield Wednesday head coach Carlos Carvalhal before this season, said the Portuguese had put together the South Yorkshire clubs best side that he could remember.The Tigers boss also confirmed goalkeeper Allan McGregor (back) will not recover in time but every other outfield player was fit and in contention.Watch Hull City against Sheffield Wednesday in the Sky Bet Championship play-off final on Saturday, live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 4pm. Also See: WATCH: Leeds 0-3 Watford WATCH: Blackpool 3-2 Cardiff Hull scrape past brave Derby Get a ￡10 free bet! Buddy Bell Rangers Jersey . 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Clarksons actions one night earlier, leaping off the bench in defence of Kessel during a pre-season game against the Buffalo Sabres, will cost him the first 10 games of the regular season. November 14 I arrive in Auckland in the afternoon and clear immigration and customs, but before I can set foot outside, I go through the now-standard procedure of being robbed at the airport. I blame mobile-phone companies.There used to be specialised SIM card booths in many airports, with cheerful staff who would set up your phone with the exact plan you required, while self-sacrificially listening your complaints about the flight. Increasingly, these outlets are disappearing. Now you are made to personally navigate a system in which the customer is set up to fail.This time I buy myself a SIM and NZ$20 worth of credit with a view to getting a $19 plan, but as soon as I load the credit into the phone, all my emails and messages come through in a torrent. When I try to buy the plan - maybe 30 seconds later - I am told I have already spent too much. I am forced to spend another $20 on credit (the minimum amount), and have effectively forked out $40 for $19 of value.I guess you could argue that I should have turned off my mobile data before loading the credit. But look, I am not arguing that I am not a doofus. The point is that the mobile companies intentionally prey on doofuses such as myself and, I think we can all agree, this makes them terrible people.November 15 Next morning, back at the airport, I am reminded of how charmingly intimate and considerate a country New Zealand is. As I await my flight to Christchurch, a Ms Schultz is summoned to her boarding gate no fewer than four times. The last of these announcements ends with: …the other passengers have boarded and are waiting for you. You can almost imagine the whole plane staring expectantly at the door, then breaking out in huge cheers and high fives when she strides in triumphantly.A little later, the announcer suggests - in the politest tone - that a mother who has misplaced a young daughter please pick her up from the check-in counter. Off to the left, two airline staff are joyfully posing for selfies with tourists, even though these are the kind of people who, as a rule, are unsatisfied with the first two dozen versions of any photograph.Then, just as I am about to board, a Mr Barry is helpfully told over the speaker system that he is walking around with his fly undone.Okay, that last one didnt happen, but Im certain that, at some point, it must have.November 16 A violent earthquake hit North Canterbury in the days before I arrived. Although Christchurch has been spared this time, people in towns further north have been cut off by landslides, and damage to roads. On the radio, the presenter is sympathetically interviewing one of the victims, whose tiny town lies between two of the larger landslides. Are your family okay? she asks him. How worried are you about aftershocks? Has there been damage to your house? He gives five-word answers to each of these, but is more effusive when she asks how he is doing for supplies. Aww, well, we havent been able ta get to the shops since bloody Thursday, aye? Were runnin outta beer and wine, so Id say thats definitely a concern.November 17 The Hagley Oval press area is not a box or room - it is a tent perched halfway up a grass bank. Its a wonderful place from which to cover a match when its sunny, but a challenge when its cold. On this rained-out first day of the series, an icy southerly rattles the metal framework and whips up the plastic sheets around us.A lot is made of the courage and commitment of cricketers, who put their bodies on the line for their craft; who live with discipline, and pursue dreams with unwavering will. I, for one, think cricket writers are no less worthy of adulation. My fingers have become numb by afternoon but nevertheless I gather up my resolve and heroically pass on weather updates to my colleagues on ball-by-ball commentary. Steadfastly do I remain in this battered press tent all day, though the carrot cake we are served for tea is slightly drier than is ideal.November 19 The hotel I am staying at has one of those signs encouraging patrons to reuse towels in order to reduce the hotels impact on the environment. The idea that hotels care about the earth is, of course, complete crap - they merely want to cut down on bills. Many hotels would set fire to polar bear cubs if it turned them a profit. Still, I dont mind reusing towels, so I put mine back on the rack every day, only to find upon my return that that all towels have been replaced, in contravention of their own policy. Not only that, even the barely used shampoo bottles and sooaps have been thrown out, and new ones put in their place.ddddddddddddOne morning I break open a tissue box and use just one sheet, then find a brand new box on the table when I return. I begin to wonder if I was actually sleeping in the same bed every day, or if these people were throwing it out daily and putting a brand-new one in its place.November 20 Sri Lankan friends in Christchurch kindly have me over to dinner, and I feast enthusiastically on idi appa, pol sambol and a dark chicken curry. They are fairly recent immigrants to New Zealand and are still figuring out the lay of their new land.Since coming here, we have learned to say yes straight away when visiting peoples houses, they tell me.What do you mean? I ask.Well, in Sri Lanka, when you are a guest, its polite to refuse the first offer of a meal or a cup of tea. Only when they insist are you supposed to agree.Sure, and here?Here, if you say no, thats it. They wont offer you again. If you refuse it, you dont get to bloody eat.November 22 New Zealand is almost too good to be a real country. It has its issues, of course, but there are no major ethnic tensions (not in comparison to most countries, at least) and no obvious signs of public unrest. It has a stable and trusted government (again, by global standards), and its national icon is a fittingly inoffensive animal. Sometimes its so perfect, its infuriating. This is my third trip around the country in as many years, and the breathtaking scenery keeps rolling by without relent. I am flying over north Canterbury - not an area especially reputed for its beauty - yet here lie these annoyingly gorgeous mountain ridges, all ruggedly serrated, while below, smug cords of captivating blue water wrap around the hills like ribbons on a present. The Pacific Ocean glints obnoxiously in the distance.It just doesnt seem fair.November 23 Over the past two decades it has become very cool to hate on Hamilton. Coffee-shop hipsters in Wellington will talk about how chlamydia is an airborne disease there, and how the Waikato river brings farming effluent through the middle of town (not true). Comedians will poke fun at Hamiltonians on TV, and Aucklanders heading south will say they take detours just to avoid going near the city.I come to Hamilton hoping to rise above all this snarky criticism, intent on seeing it with fresh eyes. Perhaps I would discover something truly wonderful and unique, I think. But when I arrive, I learn there is no Uber in the city, nor any other ride-hailing system. Cabs are not common, and locals tell me not to bother with public transport. Even backward Sri Lankan towns have this. Instead of tracking the cab on my phone like a reasonable person, I have to stand on a street corner waiting for it for ages, like some kind of Neanderthal.Sometimes, Hamilton, you do have to help yourself.(For any Hamilton residents reading this - my hometown is Dehiwala, and if you want to rip it apart in the comments, I guess that is only fair.) November 27 Mohammad Amir comes to the post-play press conference - quite unexpectedly, as most journalists thought he was still off limits since his return from suspension. He understands our English but is more comfortable answering in Urdu, and he chuckles when asked about all the catches that have been dropped off his bowling.All the journalists behave themselves. No spiky questions about his suspension are asked. When he leaves, the Kiwi journalists dont miss the chance to malign their Australian counterparts, who, it is thought, will give Amir a very different reception.Wait till Pakistan get over there, says one reporter. Theyll get some different questions there.Aww maayte, says another in a mock Aussie accent, imitating a journalists question. Do you really theenk you deserve to be hee after what youve done?November 29 The first Test I ever covered was in Hamilton, in 2009. I stayed too long in the press box one evening and managed to get myself locked in the stadium. I had to climb over a fence to get out, and in the process, dropped and damaged my laptop.I realise now, that it had been a training run for this Test, when again, I stay too long and get myself locked in. This time, with a much more expensive laptop, I climb the same fence, but carefully avoid the old mistake - dropping gingerly down onto the pavement, to go wait on the corner for my taxi for what seems like an hour. ' ' '