HULL City finished the Championship league season in third position - four points behind that of automatically-promoted Stoke City.

The Tigers have enjoyed a hugely successful campaign under the stewardship of boss Phil Brown - and they now stand just three games away from the top-flight for the first time in their 104 year history.

The Hornets stand in their way of course in what should a keenly-fought semi-final play-off.

Few could have expected the Tigers to finish the season so strongly - but the men from the KC Stadium have excelled this term.

The month of March was vital to their crusade to the top-flight as they recorded six wins.

Brown has assembled a squad with an experienced blend that runs throughout the side. That is spearheaded by local boy and talisman Dean Windass who has banged home 13 goals this season.

Ex-Spurs and England man Nick Barmby is also with the Tigers and has recently come back into contention. After joining in 2004, he was part of the squad which originally won promotion to the Championship at the end of that season.

A famous name and face is Nigeria star Jay-Jay Okocha, after missing out for seven weeks the ex-Bolton star has been in more than enough pressurised games and can create a goal out of anything.

Other familiar faces include another Bolton old-boy in Henrik Pedersen - he has found the net four times since arriving at the KC.

Club captain Ian Ashbee is another experienced player and has made over 200 starts for the club since arriving from Cambridge.

The Tigers have clearly benefited from the presence of loanee Fraizer Campbell, the young Manchester United front man has scored 15 goals since making his debut against the 'Orns back in October.

Hull manager Phil Brown

Defender Wayne Brown will be familiar to the home crowd at Vicarage Road on Sunday. The Barking-born Tiger was with Watford initially on loan and then joined permanently in late 2002.

Despite having a productive loan spell with the Hornets and scoring three goals from defence, his full-time move wasn't as successful, partly down to injury and he made just 26 appearances before moving on after a couple of loan moves.

INJURY NEWS:
At the time of writing (Friday) it looks like Okocha will be involved for the visitors - after missing recent games. Boss Brown looks set to revert to the favoured 4-4-2 line-up after experimenting with 4-3-3 in recent weeks. Richard Garcia has also returned to fitness while striker Pedersen is also expected to be back in the fold for the visitors.  

Ex-Bolton star Jay-Jay Okocha

HEAD-TO-HEAD:
Following their win at the KC in March, the Tigers now lead the overall stakes with 11 victories, compared to Watford's ten.

Before the win for them this season, you'd have to have gone back to 1990 for their last success over the Hornets.

Those with good memories will remember an epic battle between the clubs in 1988 in the third round of the FA Cup. It took three ties to decide the winner in the pre shoot-out days.

The three games were played in the space of 10 days and the Hornets came out on top thanks to a 1-0 win where Malcolm Allen scored one of his four goals in the cup that year.

LAST TIME THE TEAMS MET:
One for all Watford fans and players alike to forget. A 3-0 drubbing on a particularly drab afternoon if you supported the Golden Boys. The visitors were second best to everything from the off and found themselves one down after just one minute which hardly helped.

HORNETSBET:
Home win - 13/10
Away win - 9/4
Draw - 21/10

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