Hull coach Brown asks Altidore to earn spot back

Hull City boss Phil Brown has asked Jozy Altidore to earn his spot in the team back after the errant striker was fined for arriving late for the match against Portsmouth last Saturday.

The American was swiftly axed from the Tigers' match-day squad after arriving just 50 minutes before kickoff, more than 40 minutes later than team rules allow.

Altidore saw fit to issue a public apology via Twitter, in a move that only angered an irate Brown further.

But the manager has promised the 19-year-old to wipe the slate clean, and assured Tigers fans that he will be picked as long as he merits a place in the team.

"He'll be back in contention for the weekend but it's up to him now to prove that he's deserving of a place," Brown told the Hull Daily Mail. "He's 19, he's at the beginning of his career but Jozy is being paid an awful lot of money to play professional football and it's part and parcel of his working life to be professional.

"The word professional to me means that you do everything right, even when people are not looking at you. He's apologized to his teammates because he let them down. We've got hold of a young lad with big potential but to realize that, he has to do everything he can to maximize it."

Regarding the Twitter gaffe, Brown said: "In his head he was maybe trying to do the right thing. The way of the world has moved on but old-fashioned beliefs and standards must be maintained.

You have standards that you set yourself in any walk of life and you should never compromise them. Yes, you can cut people some slack in given situations, but not on a matchday. It's what you prepare for all week and to come in an hour and a half before a game shouldn't be too much to ask. To be 35 or 40 minutes late, it just beggars belief."