STEVE Bruce believes that the £9m arrival of Jordan Rhodes could tip the Championship promotion battle in Middlesbrough's favour.

But Hull's former Sunderland boss insists the race for the Premier League is still too close to call, and claims that trying to predict the final outcome at the top in May is akin to calling the toss of a coin.

Middlesbrough have been backed in many quarters to go on and lift the title after completing their high-profile move for the prolific Scotland international in the January transfer window.

Bruce came close to landing Rhodes for the Tigers in the summer of 2014, and remains a firm admirer of the former Blackburn and Huddersfield striker, who scored his first Boro goal after coming off the bench in the 1-1 draw at MK Dons, before he was denied another by a mistake from the officials on his full debut in the stalemate at Leeds on Monday.

Much rests on Rhodes' ability to add to his 12-goal haul this season in the final two-and-a-half months of the campaign.

However, Hull's Geordie boss, whose side lead the table by two points going into Saturday's games, refused to say whether he believed the arrival of the 26-year-old adds an extra weight of expectation to Boro's bid to end their seven-season top flight exile.

"Rhodes is a wonderful signing for Middlesbrough," said Bruce. "The lad scores goals. He’s already repaid some of his fee with an equaliser down at MK Dons. There’s 15 games to go and from what I can see of the Championship it’s still up in the air.

"A month ago Middlesbrough were seven points clear with a game in hand and all of a sudden they’re two points behind us. That’s how quickly it can change."

Aitor Karanka's second-placed side are without a win in five games ahead of their next fixture, at home to Cardiff on Tuesday. They could find themselves down in fourth by then, albeit with games in hand, if Burnley beat Rotherham and Brighton win at the Bluebirds today.

With Hull in FA Cup fifth round action at Arsenal, the top four could be separated by just two points on Saturday night.

City have overtaken the Teessiders thanks to seven victories in their last nine games in their bid to bounce straight back following relegation last season. Bruce refuses to get carried away, and anticipates Sheffield Wednesday, who are currently fifth, seven points off the top, will also have a major say in the race for automatic promotion.

The Tigers travel to the Riverside in a potentially pivotal fixture on March 18 when Karanka's side will be out to avenge a comprehensive 3-0 defeat suffered at the KC Stadium in November.

Bruce added: "We’ve given ourselves a great chance. We’re top of the league at the moment but I expect Burnley to close the gap on Saturday. The way I see it, there’s still everything to play for.

"I don’t think anyone envisaged Derby falling off the pace like they have. Have they still got a part to play? Possibly, we'll see. They’re still in there I'd say.

"You look at Sheffield Wednesday as well. They’re on a hell of a run with the boy Gary Hooper scoring goals so there's a few you can't rule out at this stage of the season."

Bruce promised to ring the changes for Hull's fifth round tie at the Emirates Stadium in order to keep his squad fresh for Tuesday's encounter with Ipswich, a game he bills as more important than Satuday's re-run of the 2014 FA Cup final with Arsene Wenger's side.

The 55-year-old added: "It's as simple as Tuesday night being bigger than Saturday, yes. We want to be playing Arsenal twice next season. We want to play Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United twice. We want to be back in the Premier League and so that makes team selection quite simple for me."