Brown - Tigers have arrived

Hull boss admits club have lost element of surprise

Last updated: 3rd October 2008

Blackburn v Hull Phil Brown

Brown: Spurs focus

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Phil Brown believes Hull have lost the element of surprise in the Premier League after their victory over Arsenal.

The Tigers recorded one of the biggest upsets in the top flight when they came from a goal down to triumph 2-1 at Emirates Stadium last weekend.

But the interest and coverage generated by that victory means that the KC Stadium outfit can no longer claim to be an unknown quantity on their debut season in England's top division.

Brown takes his team to Tottenham on Sunday looking to pile more misery on under-pressure Juande Ramos, but is expecting a tough challenge against the rock-bottom White Hart Lane side.

And the Hull manager claims he turned his attention to the Spurs game while his players were still celebrating their success in the Emirates dressing room.

Arrived

He told Sky Sports News: "It was a great result. It was a fantastic week, we've really enjoyed ourselves on the training ground. But literally 15 minutes after the game I'm thinking about Tottenham.

"That might sound a bit far-fetched when you've just beaten Arsenal at the Emirates, but it's true.

"The most important and pleasing thing about Saturday's result was that the players carried out our instructions to the 'nth' degree. Everything had to go according to plan for us to win the game, and it did.

"There's no doubt at my mind it's going to be a lot more difficult because these guys (Spurs) are fighting for their lives at the moment and they're good players, make no mistake about it.

"We've arrived. We were written off before the start of the season and I think people are slowly and surely people are starting to take us seriously. And there lies our next problem.

"The biggest problem we've got to overcome is that people start respecting us as a Premier League club and we've got to step up to the plate even more."

Tradition

Tottenham are yet to taste victory in the league this season and have a paltry two points to show for their six games so far.

Brown believes they remain genuine contenders for a European place at the end of the season, but is hoping to prolong their misery for at least one more week.

He added: "As far as I'm concerned there's never a right time to catch Tottenham. They're a good side, a side with tradition. They're looking for their first win and it's going to come sooner rather than later.

"If Tottenham score the first goal on Sunday and they get a head of steam up and the fans get behind them it's going to be a difficult game. But if we can keep that crowd quiet and get ourselves in front, it will be a recipe for success.

"At the start of the season, as far as I was concerned, Tottenham were one of the teams who had every chance of breaking into the top four.

"Although they've had a bad start they're more than capable of knocking at the door of the Uefa Cup or even the Champions League, so we've got to make sure on Sunday it doesn't start then."