Stephen Hunt is used to the spotlight being on him.

Straggly hair flapping in the wind, this is the man whose accidental collision left Petr Cech with a fractured skull in 2006 and had Chelsea fans baying for his blood.

But the sparky Irishman shrugged it all off with a wave of his shaggy bonce to take on the bully boys and even score at Stamford Bridge.

And so tomorrow’s clash which sees the club desperately trying to keep him – Hull – taking on the club so desperate to buy him – Wolves – is small beer in comparison.

Those who know him well, such as his good friends at Molineux, Kevin Doyle and Marcus Hahnemann, know that despite being the main attraction at the KC Stadium, Hunt will be throwing his full attention to the Hull cause – even if he ends up swapping amber and black for gold and black within 48 hours.

Hahnemann, who played with Hunt for all the Irishman’s four years at Reading, dismisses any suggestion that it will be difficult for his former team-mate to focus.

“No, because he’s a pretty focused individual – he’ll go out and do his job no matter what,” said Hahnemann.

“Just from knowing him, he’ll work so hard for the cause – no matter what happens off the field, come game-time he’s ready to get on with it – he’ll be 100 miles per hour.”

But the 37-year-old USA international keeper has no doubt that Hunt could add something to Wolves’ survival cause.

“He could definitely add something to us,” said the popular American.

“He’s a super strong player and I’m sure he’s a player the gaffer would really like.

“He’s got that attitude, the crazyiness and the Irish connection too would fit really well.”

Hunt is one of several connections between the two camps that ensured the texts are flying across the air waves between the West Midlands and Humberside.

“There will certainly be a lot of ‘trash talking’, that’s for sure!” added Hahnemann.

“Funnily enough, we haven’t had any banter yet, but I’m sure it’s going to start tonight – the text messages will start flying.

“There’s a few of us who know each other – there’s another American in Jozy Altidore and Wayne Hennessey knows Boaz Myhill from the Wales set-up, so it will be interesting.

“I watched Boaz at Tottenham and he was on fire, he was that good.”

As for Hahnemann, if he needed reminding just how important it was to stay in the Premier League, it came this week with the arrival of two friends from the United States.

The Sky millions’ ability to attract to the best players in the world here means the profile of our top flight has never been bigger over the pond.

And what better way to follow your hobby than drop in on a mate who plays in the ‘good ‘ol’ EPL?’

“It’s the best league in the world and playing against the best teams in the world, so it’s absolutely fantastic.

“I’ve got some friends over from Colorado that I met when I played there and still keep in contact with.

“Frank has been over here a lot and Fred’s here too.

“They wanted to see Liverpool and they’re going up to Hull.

“They’ve been to see us training as well.

“They absolutely love the Premier League, especially after Reading were there too.

“I think we had house guests all season the first season Reading were in the Premier League – there were only about 10 days when we didn’t have people staying with us!

“Everyone came over because it’s the best league in the world and it’s the one that everyone in the States watches because it’s as good as it gets.

“We take it for granted that it’s the most entertaining league because we’re here.

“Even the Championship is featured on a ‘game of the week’, but people don’t know all the players.

“If you turn on to watch some game on TV, it doesn’t matter how good it is, you won’t watch it because you don’t know the individual players so you don’t know whether they’re having a good or bad game.

“People like to look at those things and know how they’re playing, and things such as whether the team is playing a different formation or not, ‘why is this team playing 4-5-1?’ and ‘do they always play like that?’

“When you know all the players, or most of them, and they can see it live, things become more interesting and it’s fantastic for them.

“So they can go to the game knowing everything about it.”

“I say to my friends ‘we just played Liverpool’ and they say ‘I know, we saw it, it was on live over here!’

“Every time I talk to someone at home, there are constant reminders of how big the Premier League is.

“It shows how important it is to try to stay in it.”