The midfielder made a goalscoring return for the reserves last week after being sidelined since January with a serious knee injury.

The 30-year-old suffered the injury on his debut for Hull against West Ham United and is desperate to finally show Tigers fans what he can do.

"Whether or not Jimmy will be able to start against Fulham will depend entirely on how he does in a reserves game and how he trains for the rest of the week," Brown said.

"His attitude has been absolutely first class but we'll only play Jimmy at the right time.

"It was 45 minutes under his belt last week, albeit reserves, and hopefully there will be another 60, 65 or 70 minutes.

"If he comes through unscathed again, fingers crossed he could play some part in the Fulham game, but I'll be keeping my cards close to my chest with regards to how much."

Brown also added that the win over Wigan Athletic last time out meant he was not pressurised into bringing Bullard back too soon.

"It is tempting of course it is, but the beauty of the win against Wigan buys him and me more time," he added.

"The temptation of a manager under pressure with four points from seven games is different to that of a manager with seven points after eight games.

"Win against Fulham and you're in double figures and all of a sudden the pressures of the Premier League are alleviated to a certain extent. The same goes for the risks you might take with any player returning from injury."