Marney confident of festive cheer

Posted Friday, December 18, 2009 by teamtalk.com

Dean Marney is confident Hull City can continue their recent revival by collecting points against Arsenal and Manchester United.

The Tigers have lost just once in their last six Premier League games to boost their prospects of staying in the top flight at the end of the season.

However, Phil Brown's men face a tough test before the New Year with a trip to Arsenal on Saturday followed by the visit of Manchester United a week on Sunday.

Marney is not fazed by tackling the two title rivals and pinpoints last season's 2-1 win at Emirates Stadium as a reason why the Tigers should stay optimistic ahead of the weekend.

"They are going to be really, really tough games and anything you get from them is a bonus," Marney told the Hull Daily Mail. "But we proved last season when we went to Arsenal and won that we are capable of getting results.

"There's a little bit of confidence back in the squad and we're all looking forward to games now."

The former Tottenham midfielder also believes that the options at Phil Brown's disposal will stand Hull in good stead for the rest of the campaign.

He added: "There's competition for places here and that can only be a good thing.

"If you put in a performance then you've got every chance of playing the next game, but if you drop off, there's players waiting to come in.

"We've got a lot of quality midfielders here and we all know that we need to be bang at it in every game.

"If you get in a comfort zone and you think you're playing every week, you can ease off. But with the squad we've got here, there's massive competition for every place in the side."