City boss Steve Bruce has been rewarded for a tremendous campaign in December with the Manager of the Month award.

The Tigers climbed to second place in the Championship just before Christmas under Bruce, a position they maintain today, after claiming 16 of the 18 available points for the month with wins over Nottingham Forest, Watford, Huddersfield Town, Derby County and Leeds United and a goalless draw against Leicester City.

City have kept three clean sheets during this period too, and scored ten goals.

Since the turn of the year, City have had one goalless draw in the Championship and been fortunate to sneak an FA Cup replay against Leyton Orient with a distinctly second-string side, but the real business begins again tomorrow with the televised Yorkshire derby against lowly Sheffield Wednesday at the Circle. At that point we’ll see whether the fabled curse of the Manager of the Month comes to the fore..