Boyd wants to avoid agonising final day

The 30-year-old faced an agonising quarter-of-an-hour in the tunnel at the KC Stadium on the final day of the 2012/13 campaign as Hull City waited to see if they'd done enough to reach the Premier League.

The Tigers were in a tussle for second spot with Watford, with just one point separating the pair going in to their conclusive fixtures.

With Steve Bruce's side beating champions Cardiff City 2-1, striker Nick Proschwitz was presented with the opportunity to seal the club's fate from the spot in stoppage time.

However, David Marshall saved the German's penalty and the Bluebirds eventually equalised as Nicky Maynard despatched from 12 yards out at the other end.

Meanwhile, at Vicarage Road, the Hornets were pressing for a winner that would earn promotion to the top flight as their game with Leeds United was locked at 1-1.

Injury to goalkeeper Jonathan Bond had forced the delay and set up a nervy finale. But, with the clock ticking down, news filtered through to Boyd and his team-mates that Ross McCormack had netted in the last minute. Cue delirium.

This time around, though, the Scotsman wants to secure promotion without any complications.

"I'd hate to have another experience like that," said Boyd, who was awarded the player of the month accolade for March that season. "We'll hopefully make it a lot easier for ourselves this season.

"We were waiting in the tunnel for 15 to 20 minutes waiting for their result to come in. They just had to draw or lose for us to be promoted. It was amazing when the result came through. I think everyone wants to feel that.

"There were grown men crying through pure relief because we'd worked so hard for it. When the result finally came through it was the best feeling ever."

Incredibly the Tigers secured an automatic spot that term despite losing almost a third of their outings.

"It must've been one of the lowest points totals," Boyd said. "When Burnley got promoted it was a lot higher than when I went up with Hull. It must've been one of the lowest ever to get promoted with. I think we'll get more than that."

The Clarets are in a closely-contested battle with Boyd's former employers in their pursuit of a return to the top flight. The league leaders are four points clear at the summit but Boyd believes that Burnley are in good shape.

"Looking at Hull this season it's almost like they've got a Premier League squad but I think we're just as good if not better," he said.

"You can't help but look at other results but we'll obviously concentrate on ourselves. We've come through a tough spell with some tough games but with 15 games to go we're in a strong position.

"The gaffer has instilled it in us to take it one game at a time at the minute but it's getting to that squeaky bum time where every game is vital. We're still thoroughly enjoying it at the minute and I think you can see that in the way we're playing."

Ahead of the weekend's clash with Rotherham United at Turf Moor, Boyd added: "I'd rather be top but it's good that we're looking upwards and we know what we have to do. Hull are four points clear at the moment so the pressure is on us to close that gap.

"It's a big couple of weeks with three of the next four games at home. It's important that we get points on the board because our home form has been great for us this season.

"It's a big week and a chance to get nine points so we'll just look to build on what we've been doing.

"We've hit form just at the right time. We've played some strong teams and come out of it with some good results. We're full of confidence and looking to build on that in these last 15 games.

"It's come just at the right time. We're the form team in the league and we're scoring lots of goals so it's looking good."