Steve Bruce is adamant he can keep Hull City in the Barclays Premier League after a 2-0 defeat by Southampton left them battling to stay up . At the start of the campaign Bruce was targeting 10 wins to survive , but despite a strong start his Hull side have mustered just six and he is hoping 'nine or eight might be enough . ' Hull were the better side against Southampton for the first 45 minutes but a James Ward-Prowse penalty and late strike from Graziano Pelle meant they left with nothing . Steve Bruce is confident he can keep Hull City in the Premier League this season and avoid relegation . They now have six games to save their season including nightmare fixtures against Liverpool , Arsenal , Tottenham and Manchester United . But Bruce insisted : 'Everyone is up for the challenge and I 'm sure and convinced that we 'll do it . If we keep remaining positive I 'm convinced we can take a couple of results which will take us over the line . 'We 've had a wonderful three years near enough from getting promoted to getting to a cup final , staying up last year . I 've always had something in my water that this season would be the most difficult because all of a sudden you 've created an expectation and unfortunately we have n't been able to live up to that expectation . Hull were beaten 2-0 by Southampton on Saturday and are just two points clear of the drop zone . 'We 've got our reasons for it , we 've still got enough to keep us out of trouble I hope . We 're bang in it but I 'm still convinced we 'll get out of it . ' Bruce puts their struggles down to several long-term injuries to key players . At St Mary 's Stadium , Mohamed Diame returned from five months out and James Chester from three . Michael Dawson and Nikica Jelavic have missed half the season and Robert Snodgrass has not been available at all . Bruce added : 'They are big players for us and unfortunately , at this moment , we have n't been able to cope . We 've battled on manfully but not quite been good enough . ' James Ward-Prowse slots home a penalty for Southampton against Hull as they moved up to fifth . Ronald Koeman 's side moved to fifth in the table ahead of Tottenham , who lost to Aston Villa , and Liverpool , who play Newcastle on Monday . But the Dutchman left with his own problems , after he had to intervene when Sadio Mane tried to take the penalty when Ward-Prowse was first-choice . Koeman will speak to his squad to remind them that team rules can not be broken by anyone . Koeman said : ' I already had a word with Mane but we will talk to the team about that because maybe I have to mention it a bit more clearly . '
Steve Bruce adamant that Hull will avoid relegation from Premier League . Hull were beaten 2-0 by Southampton at St Mary 's on Saturday . Defeat leaves Hull in 17th just two points clear of the danger zone . The Tigers have won only one game since their promotion to the top flight last season and are now four points behind leaders Manchester City with five games left.