Hull don't fear Liverpool, says Phil Brown

"It is important to be positive, there's no sense in trying to play defensive football on a surface like that," Brown said.

"We won't be going there negatively and putting 10 or 11 men behind the ball all game.

"If we can score a goal then it means Liverpool will have to score twice to win the game, that's the way we're thinking about it.

"I watched West Ham go to Liverpool and although they didn't over-commit, they committed players forward in the final third when the time was right and could have pinched it at the end."

Wins at Newcastle, Arsenal and Tottenham have demonstrated City's fine form on their travels, with eight games yielding 15 crucial points.

Fellow newcomers Stoke join West Ham and Fulham in taking points at Anfield this season and Brown believes there will no shortage of confidence from his men.

"They've had three goal-less draws but all three have come in different circumstances," he said.

"Stoke went there and packed bodies behind the goal but never had a shot on goal.

"I watched West Ham there and they could have won the game. Craig Bellamy hit the post and that seemed to give them fresh impetus and confidence to win the game.

"We have to be positive from the off and play some football."

With only one defeat in 15 league games, Liverpool sit one point clear of Chelsea at the summit of the Premier League table.

Eleven points behind the Anfield club sit the Tigers, back on track after a 2-1 win over Middlesbrough last weekend.

But with admiration for counterpart Rafael Benitez, Brown has installed Liverpool as the best in the league at present.

"They are a great side no doubt about it," Brown said.

"To be so many points ahead of Manchester United and be ahead of Chelsea and Arsenal is a great achievement at this stage of the season.

"The fact that they were booed off after a 0-0 draw against shows you how much Liverpool have progressed in the last four or five years under Rafa Benitez.

"They have to be the best team in England at this moment in time, the league table doesn't lie.

"The fact that they're not playing particularly well but winning is the sign of a very good side - that was the case at Blackburn last week and they won 3-1."

Brown is no stranger to success at Anfield, both as a player and a coach during his long association with Bolton.

He was part of a Wanderers side who registered a memorable FA Cup upset when beating Liverpool 2-0 in January 1993, while five years ago he helped plot a 3-2 win to knock them out of the League Cup.

His past gives Brown cause for optimism but he still craves victory on his maiden trip to Anfield as a manager.

"If we can upset the odds and get a point it would be fantastic, to get three would be an absolute dream," he added.

"But we can't afford to go there with any fear, we need to look at causing them problems when we get the chance."