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Brown: Hull task getting harder each week

Reuters - Friday 03 October 2008, 13:56

Hull City manager Phil Brown said on Friday his task was becoming harder with each passing week as the promoted club continued to confound the pundits.

Hull, tipped for immediate relegation after making it to the top flight for the first time, have instead made a flying start.

Last week's stunning 2-1 win at Arsenal left them sixth in the Premier League and unbeaten in three away games ahead of Sunday's trip to struggling Tottenham Hotspur.

"We were written off before the season started but people are slowly but surely starting to take us seriously and therein lies our next problem," Brown told Sky Sports News.

"The next hurdle is that people start respecting us as a Premier League club and that's when we've got to step up even more."

Brown said he started looking ahead to the Spurs match soon after the victory at Arsenal.

"It was a great result, a fantastic week, but 15 minutes after the game I'm thinking about Tottenham," he said.

"The most important and pleasing thing was the players carried out instructions to the nth degree and everything had to go to plan to win the game."

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With Spurs bottom of the league after their worst start for more than half a century, Brown could be forgiven for thinking his second successive trip to north London would be easier but he saw it differently.

"It's going to be a lot more difficult, these guys are fighting for their lives and they are good players. Two points from six games doesn't matter to me," he said of Spurs's meagre return.

"Tottenham are looking for their first win but we've got to go in with that game plan again and make sure everyone carries it out again.

"That first goal is vitally important. If Tottenham get it and get a head of steam up and the fans get behind them it's going to be difficult but if we can keep that crowd quiet and get ourselves in front then who knows what the result will be."

Brown said the Hull players were keeping their feet on the ground.

"People here are enjoying their football and rightly so," he said. "It's a good time to be in the Premier League. We are enjoying the moment but we are not getting carried away."


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