Hull boss Steve Bruce is eager to raise a glass to the greatness of Jose Mourinho -- but only once the Tigers have pulled off another famous Premier League upset against champions elect Chelsea at the KC Stadium on Sunday.
Bruce has expressed his admiration for his Stamford Bridge counterpart and revealed their relationship goes back to his time at Birmingham when Mourinho sent Mikael Forssell to St Andrew's on loan.
Bruce said: "I sent [Mourinho] a crate of red to say thank you. He enjoyed my taste in red wine. What you see is what you get with Jose and when you call him he always tries to help.
"Jose Mourinho is without doubt bordering on greatness. When you talk about the great managers Jose is going to be one of them.
"I have the hugest respect for what he has achieved and what he is. I believe he is box office and that we are better off with him in the Premier League -- even if they were easier to take something against when he wasn't involved."
Victory on Sunday would provide a major boost for Bruce after a frustrating week which saw his side charged with failing to control their players in the goalless draw at Leicester and striker Nikica Jelavic ruled out for at least six weeks following knee surgery.
With Mohamed Diame, Liam Rosenior and James Chester still short of fitness and Tom Huddlestone suspended, Bruce is running short of options at a vital stage of the season, although he has not entirely ruled out the possibility of Jelavic returning before the end of the campaign.
Bruce added: "Being realistic we think it's going to be at least six weeks. It could force him out for the rest of the season, but knowing Jela the way I do I am sure he is going to give it a good shot."
Hull's survival hopes were hardly helped when fellow strugglers Burnley pulled off a superb 1-0 win over Manchester City last Saturday night but Tigers defender Michael Dawson believes it shows a win over Chelsea is far from out of the question.
His side already boast a good record against the big clubs this season with points gained at City, Arsenal and Liverpool, so a run-in which sees most of the European hopefuls still to visit the KC Stadium may not be such a bad thing.
Dawson said: "You do look at other results, there's no hiding that, and seeing that kind of result definitely gives us that belief.
"On paper it wasn't one you would look at but credit to Burnley who showed what the Premier League is about.
"It is a massive challenge playing against all the top teams but we have been away to Anfield and Manchester City and Arsenal and picked points up and we could quite easily have picked up all three against City."