Phil Brown says the fact the Tigers have been thrust into the national media spotlight ahead of tomorrow's clash with Watford is a 'good sign' that the club is moving in the right direction.

With national journalists eager to speak to the City boss at his press call on Thursday and BBC Radio 5Live set to present their entire Saturday afternoon show from the KC Stadium tomorrow, the Tigers' profile continues to reach new heights.

"The fact that the media is recognising us is a good sign," said Brown.

"Tomorrow is a massive game because we're playing the team closest to us in the league.

"If we manage to stay ahead of Watford between now and the end of the season we won't be far off.

"The day Watford beat us at Vicarage Road, they went something like six points clear at the top of the table.

"For us to turn that around and be ahead of them is an achievement in itself. There were a few comments that came out after that game that were a bit disrespectful to us as a team. Hopefully we can settle that tomorrow."

In terms of team selection, Brown has an interesting dilemma up front with Caleb Folan pushing for a recall to the starting line up after scoring in his last two appearances from the bench.

"To be honest, I've got five strikers to choose from. At the moment, Dean Windass is defying his age and the medical side of the game having played three games in a week.

"He's throwing his hat into the ring to start his fourth consecutive game having recently had a career-threatening operation on his knee.

"But Caleb is staking his claim as well because he's coming off the bench and scoring goals while Fraizer Campbell has just had a call-up to the England Under-21s.

"Fortunately for us, Craig Fagan is back in the fray and he's a Premier League striker. Michael Bridges can chip in as well, so we have got options up top.

"But having scored ten goals in the last three games, that suggests the strike force is working."

Brown is hoping to call on the services of Wayne Brown to replace Neil Clement at centre back after he was recalled from his loan spell by West Brom on Thursday while the City boss will also give Ian Ashbee as long as possible to recover from a knock picked up at Leicester last weekend, but Jay-Jay Okocha will definitely be missing through injury.

"Jay-Jay won't play any part in the game on Saturday," added Brown.

"But fortunately in that respect, we don't have a game next weekend so he's got two weeks to get himself fit for the game against QPR."