Soccer

Kilbane set for talks over Hull move

Hull City manager Phil Brown is confident terms can be agreed with Kevin Kilbane in time for the Ireland international to join…

Tue Jan 13 2009 - 00:00

Hull City manager Phil Brown is confident terms can be agreed with Kevin Kilbane in time for the Ireland international to join Luis Boa Morte in the squad to face Arsenal at the weekend.

Hull have agreed a deal with Boa Morte and have been given permission by Wigan to talk to Kilbane as they look to balance their team with some natural left sided players.

Brown hopes they will also freshen up his squad after a run of just one win in 12 Barclays Premier League matches.

Brown, whose side face Newcastle in an FA Cup third-round replay on Wednesday, said: "The clubs have agreed terms on Luis Boa Morte and we are trying to agree terms on Kevin Kilbane, on a personal front as well.

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"There is no real rush at the moment, we are concentrating on the Newcastle game but hopefully Thursday or Friday there will be some movement.

"We have made reference to talking to both players and if they both come then fantastic."

Republic of Ireland winger Kilbane, 31, is thought to be ready to move on after falling down the pecking order at the JJB Stadium.

Former Portugal international Boa Morte, also 31, has struggled to earn a regular starting slot at Upton Park since a €5.5million move from Fulham in summer 2007.

Brown does not intend his January recruitment to end there with plans also being made to find a striker and a defender.

He added: "We are down the line on a number of them but these things are a slow process. We have got another couple of weeks to work at it and hopefully bring the right players in to improve the squad and bolster the confidence levels.

"To freshen the place up wouldn't be a bad thing."

Brown is likely to rotate his squad at St James' Park but still recognises the importance of a victory.

Hull briefly went joint top of the table in October but their form since has left them looking over their shoulders with just seven points separating them from the bottom three.

Brown said: "The atmosphere is not too bad around the camp but what a win would do is lift spirits, raise confidence levels and get back to the level of performance we were at towards the beginning of the season.”