Hull City boss Steve Bruce was relieved to reach the Championship play-off final and avoid an "embarrassing" capitulation against Derby.

Bruce's side won the first leg 3-0 before losing 2-0 in the second leg on Tuesday to edge through to Wembley.

"We handled the occasion really well on Saturday but we couldn't put one front in foot of the other on Tuesday," he told BBC Radio Humberside.

"It was a really difficult evening but we've got through."

"It could have been our most embarrassing night but it's not, thank the lord," he continued.

"(Tom) Huddlestone clearly wasn't fit. That was a gamble, where he played with a knock, and I shouldn't have took that gamble."

Hull were able to hold on and secure their spot to face Sheffield Wednesday in an all-Yorkshire final on 28 May.

"I won't try and mask it up any more - we did enough at Derby, where we put in a good performance," Bruce added.

"We know we will perform better than that because we can't be any worse. Let's make sure now that we try our upmost because we have just seen our Achilles heel."