A total of 10 Tigers players were summoned by their countries following Sunday's 2-2 draw with Manchester City, and although Brown concedes there are logistical difficulties to be overcome in terms of gathering and selecting a squad for Saturday's trip to Portsmouth, he is more than happy to confront them.

With experienced players like Dean Windass, Stelios Giannakopoulos, Bernard Mendy and Nick Barmby all desperate to force their way into the first XI, he is also delighted to have options should he need to shuffle his pack following the midweek matches.

"Our training ahead of Saturday is certainly as important, if not more, than at any other time this season," he said.

"We're travelling down to London and meeting some of the players there. Some of them will have had 11 or 12 hours on a flight and maybe just five or six hours sleep before being back on the training ground.

"It's going to be about their mental state and their physical state more than ability and I think that will play a part in team selection.

"I'll have a look at the whites of their eyes and decide. Confidence levels will play a big part. Some players are coming back, like Marlon King with Jamaica, having won 3-0 and scored, and others will be coming back having played a full game which they expected to win having not scored and been on the end of a defeat.

"It's a learning curve for me and hopefully that learning curve will be a positive one."

Indeed, it a challenge Brown has been eager to tackle for some time.

"It's a problem I've been wishing for since I came to the football club," he said.

"I was disappointed last season that we had no games cancelled because of international call-ups.

"Not to have any internationals last season, except Bo Myhill knocking on the door of the Wales team, and Sam Ricketts, was disappointing.

"To go from that to 10 or 11 now is, I think, outstanding."

Much has been made of the withdrawal of a host of England regulars by their clubs this week.

One of the few first-choice players not to be pulled from the trip to Germany, Arsenal's Theo Walcott, sustained a shoulder injury in training which will keep him out for three months, while skipper John Terry and Pompey striker Jermain Defoe also appeared to suffer knocks during the match.

That, inevitably, has led to to the reopening of the debate over the legitimacy of mid-season international friendlies.

But Brown admits his side have thus far been helped by the breaks from league duty, following their run to the play-off final last season.

"Truth be known, the two international breaks so far, before this week, have been God-sends to us.

"We didn't finish our season until May 24th so we need those periods to rest, recuperate and recharge. After the two previous breaks - when we played Newcastle and Tottenham - we've done well.

"The next break will be two weeks and we'll use that too. This one has been a little different in that it has been a friendly, not a qualifier, but I can't complain so far, so I won't."