Brown Doesn't Feel The Pressure
Phil Brown says the fact that the Championship Play-Off Final is viewed as the richest game in football won't add any extra pressure to his players.
The Tigers will face Bristol City at Wembley on Saturday afternoon with a place in the Premier League at stake.
Should they win, it would be the first time the Tigers have graced the top flight of the English game in their history and would bring millions of pounds into the club, but Brown is determined to keep his players' minds focussed only on football.
"I don't think the fact that it's the richest game in football adds any pressure," said Brown.
"What I've tried to do is keep this week as normal as possible. We're not doing any extra training, we're doing the same type of training as we've done all season.
"We've now taken the players to a training base in the south. We've been looking for this all season and I have to take my hat off to the collective effort of the players.
"The way they have applied themselves has been fabulous. I just need one more game out of them."
Despite him keeping everybody's feet on the ground, Brown knows this will be the biggest game in the Club's history.
"Without a doubt this is the biggest game in the club's history. There have been some big days in recent years - second division promotion, first division promotion, Cardiff last season was a massive game for me in terms of survival. That was almost like a promotion to me having come in so late in the season.
"A three-year management game plan was then put in place. That stated the top 12 was the aim this season. To finish third was a fantastic achievement. To be only one step away from the Premier League means it's been a fabulous season."
Brown is also well aware of how tough Bristol City will be to play against and is full of praise for the job Gary Johnson has done at Ashton Gate this season.
"What Gary Johnson has done this season has been fantastic. For me, he is the manager of the season for the Championship. At the start of the season, they were the favourites to be in the bottom three. Even when they were in the top six, they were everybody's favourites to drop out.
"They missed out on the top two, but that's their only disappointment of the season. He was very astute with the signing of Dele Adebola in January when he was on offer to everybody. Dele has provided a big threat and has been a tremendous addition to their squad."
But Brown remains determined to win the game, if only for the 37,500 Tigers fans who will make the trip to Wembley with them.
Many fans queued through the night to get their hands on tickets for the game and the City boss is sure they will be a huge help to his side.
"When times have been hard this season, we've had nothing but tremendous support from our fans.
"They have travelled with us everywhere and have been fantastic. From what I have sampled this season, our fans will have a smile on their face because we deserve to be at Wembley.
"But as I've said many times, nobody remembers a losing finalist."















