Henry Daly is tempted to use a novice chasing campaign for Mighty Man as preparation for another tilt at the John Smith's Liverpool Hurdle.

The nine-year-old has won the race twice before and returned from a long spell on the sidelines last spring to finish second behind Big Buck's in the 2009 renewal.

"We thought we'd be better to use novice chases as prep runs before going back over hurdles later in the season and aiming towards Liverpool again," Daly confirmed.

"He's fine. We're going to miss our intended chance this coming Saturday at Newbury in the Long Distnace Hurdle basically because he came back a bit late and is not ready to run."