Steve Bruce wants Hull to recreate their FA Cup heroics of 2014 ahead of Tuesday night's Capital One Cup quarter-final clash at Manchester City.
The Tigers surrendered a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 against Arsenal in the FA Cup final 18 months ago but, having already dumped out both Swansea and Leicester in this season's Capital One Cup, Bruce feels another big upset is not beyond his players.
"Once you get to this stage Man City will be looking at it and thinking Arsenal are out, Chelsea are out, Man U are out," Bruce said.
"So there's a path forward for them and we can only think the same thing.
"If we can mount a great upset then we'll give ourselves a chance, which we did 18 months ago in the FA Cup."
Hull will look to bounce back from their first defeat in 14 matches after losing 2-0 at home against Sky Bet Championship promotion rivals Derby on Friday night, but Bruce insists his players remain upbeat for the trip to the Etihad Stadium.
"Up until Friday we hadn't been beaten for four months," he said.
"We've had a really consistent run, we've only lost three out of 22 games and rightly so we can feel a bit confident, even though we lost on Friday.
"We've got to have the belief we can mount a challenge against them and take them on.
"We've had a good cup run so let's see if we can challenge one of the best teams in Europe."
Bruce blamed himself for the setback against Derby, which knocked his side off top spot, after making too many changes in the absence of suspended defender Andy Robertson.
He said: "I made a mistake, but even 800 games in you've still got to give yourself a smack now and again and say 'what the hell are you doing?'
"Sometimes in hindsight it's easy so in that respect I blame myself for the first 25 minutes.
"We'll make sure people are playing in the right position on Tuesday night."
Robertson is expected to return to the side after serving a one-game ban and winger Robert Snodgrass could make his first appearance of the season.
He returned to the bench as an unused substitute on Friday having recovered from a dislocated knee, but Bruce is still without key defender Michael Dawson (hamstring).
"It's one we should really look forward to," Bruce added.
"We're going to play against one of the biggest clubs in Europe against great players and if you're a player or manager or coach, you always want to pit your wits against the best.
"These are certainly as good as it gets, so let's go and enjoy the challenge."
Source: PA-WIRE
