Hull City boss Phil Brown agrees with Martin O'Neill's assessment that Premier League managers are only two games away from a crisis. Brown himself was under immense pressure earlier this season before a string of good home performances in October and November lifted his side up the table.

He told Sky Sports News: "I think it has been an interesting first half of the season because there have been some tremendous highs and there have been some tremendous lows as well and none more so than myself being put under a lot of personal pressure with regards to my position.

"And I noticed Martin O'Neill in the newspapers today came out with 'every manager in the Premier League, because of the pressure that we're under, every manager in the Premier League is two defeats away from a crisis'.

"Now, when you put that into perspective, he is absolutely spot-on - even Martin O'Neill at Aston Villa, even Harry Redknapp at Tottenham - because everybody's got their own agenda, whether you're in a relegation battle, you need to stay in the Premier League, whether you want to be in the middle of the Premier League, whether you want to get into Europe or even the Champions League.