Willie Mullins is looking forward to seeing Faugheen return to three miles in the Christmas Hurdle at Leopardstown.

The 2015 Champion Hurdle hero was a brilliant winner over the longer distance in the Stayers Hurdle at Punchestown in the spring, suggesting the 10-year-old was back to his best.

However, returned to two miles on his seasonal reappearance in the Morgiana Hurdle last month, Faugheen proved no match for stablemate Sharjah.

Mullins told At The Races: “He was disappointing (in the Morgiana Hurdle), but all those hurdles that were taken out made it a funny race.

“Hopefully he’ll get back to his better form.

“He probably needs a longer trip and I’d imagine that’s what we’ll do at Christmas.”

Mullins suffered disappointment last week when possible favourite Kemboy was ruled out of the Ladbrokes Trophy at Newbury due to his ferry being cancelled.

However, the champion trainer has already moved on and is looking forward to testing Kemboy’s mettle at Grade One level following his comeback victory in the Grade Two Clonmel Oil Chase.

He added: “Carrying top-weight around Newbury would have been a tough assignment. It’s disappointing to miss it, but that’s all it is.

“I think he’s improved a fair bit and I think he deserves to have a crack at graded races.

“I’m not too worried. Hopefully he can improve more for better races.”