England left-back Bridge could return to action when Manchester City visit the KC Stadium on Saturday following a spell out injured, during which allegations surfaced of an affair between his former partner and ex-Chelsea team-mate John Terry. Should he play on Humberside, Bridge could well be up against Fagan providing the Tigers star keeps his place on the right wing. Fagan, however, insists he would not dare use the recent off-field headlines to gain a psychological advantage over the defender. "At the end of the day he's going to be in the spotlight but I'm sure his manager wouldn't put him in if he wasn't 100% right," said Fagan. "Obviously I don't want to get involved in any of that. "I wouldn't even dare mention it to the guy to be honest. "I think that's crossing the line a bit. If he does play then fair play to him." Fagan, meanwhile, has argued Rio Ferdinand's case after the Manchester United defender's suspension for elbowing him recently. Ferdinand was handed a stiff ban by the Football Association for apparently lashing out at Birmingham-born Fagan at Old Trafford but the Hull striker doubts the England centre-half was being malicious. "I was blocking him from marking Anthony Gardner and at the time I didn't think it was an elbow, I thought I just got pushed," said Fagan. "It wasn't until the next day that I heard he was going in front of the FA so it was a bit bizarre, to be honest. "He gave me his shirt after the game and stuff like that so I don't think there was any malice in it." Fagan's role is one of a number of selection headaches for Tigers boss Phil Brown on Saturday, with recent signing Amr Zaki pushing for a start up front and Seyi Olofinjana returning from the African Nations Cup. Brown is delighted to have a selection headache, however, particularly concerning the form of 19-year-old midfielder Tom Cairney. Cairney made his debut in last weekend's 2-2 draw with relegation rivals Wolves and impressed sufficiently to keep his place when title-chasing Chelsea came to town on Tuesday. The Nottingham-born youngster produced another excellent performance in the 1-1 draw with Carlo Ancelotti's side and can have high hopes of starting again tomorrow when Manchester City come to the KC Stadium despite growing competition for places. Though the club currently sit third from bottom in the Premier League, Brown believes the emergence of Cairney and steady progress of fellow youngsters Liam Cooper and Mark Cullen is evidence of a positive future for the cash-strapped club. The Tigers boss said: "Tom Cairney, in the light of Jimmy Bullard's long term injury and one or two falling by the wayside in terms of form and then Seyi Olofinjana going to the African Nations Cup, has grabbed his chance. "It doesn't look like Tom needs his feet keeping on the ground, he looks like he's taking it all in his stride." Brown will be without forward Geovanni after he suffered a minor medial ligament problem, though the Brazilian could return for the midweek trip to Blackburn.
