Hull City will begin the next chapter of the Championship season today when they visit one of the promotion favourites looking to extend their impressive unbeaten run away from home.
Watford host the Tigers in the first game after the international break, with City boss Liam Rosenior taking charge of just his fourth game.
Prior to the month-long break, Rosenior was well and truly thrown into the deep end having been appointed just two days before the Tigers faced Millwall at The Den, followed by another away trip just three days later in Cardiff and then a first home game against Reading.
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Rosenior spoke at his inaugural press conference about the Millwall game being perfect to assess the character of his squad, and having gone a man down before half-time when Oscar Estupinan was dismissed, that was certainly put to the test.
City, with 10 men for an hour, battled hard to earn a valuable point against one of the division's most feared teams on their own patch, in what was a performance that impressed assistant boss Justin Walker, himself only arriving the day Rosenior's men traveled to Bermondsey, particularly given some of the criticism leveled at the dressing room earlier in the campaign.
"In a snapshot, on my first day (the Friday) we go away to Millwall (and play the following day) and go down to 10 men after half an hour so I think they showed an abundance of character on that day, to work for each other so I think that was a fantastic insight into some of the personnel that are in the squad, so that was on day one or two of being here," Walker told Hull Live during an extensive chat during the club's mid-season training camp in Antalya.
"Then we go away to Cardiff which can be a tough place to go - that had a shift of momentum in the game - we started really well and then conceded a couple of poor goals from our point of view and we probably had a little wobble for 10 minutes but then we had a little response and goals always change game, don't they?
"Digging in and getting through a difficult period again showed us a good insight into the characters and also, the abilities of some of the players that didn't start the game to go on the pitch and have an impact and effect on the game.
"There was no one sulking, and you would expect that if you've got decent characters and everyone has a clean slate then they'll maximise that opportunity.
"It was great to get an away win that night, it was a good feeling and then we get to the weekend (Reading defeat). We start well, then some of the things we probably need to spend a bit of time to address and look at in more detail ended up costing us the game," he said.
Leaving no stone unturned in his research and preparation prior to taking over at City, Rosenior was fully briefed on the squad he inherited, the good, the bad and the ugly thrown in for good measure, but Walker has been pleased with the response from the players in the month or so he's been at work.
"We'd had some previous conversations prior to getting in, you always do your homework on what you're going to inherit or not. We know some of the existing staff that were in the building so that was probably accelerated a little bit in terms of understanding who you've got and how they work," the former Derby County coach explained.
"You never know, and you could never write it, could you? You wouldn't choose to go down to 10 men after 30-odd minutes or whatever it was, but I think the biggest thing for us looking back at it, I kind of don't mind that because you find out very quickly what you've got.
"Listen, we're here to win football matches but we're trying to accelerate our process in understanding who is here for the long-term, where we're heading and what we want to achieve ultimately."
Rosenior, Walker, Andy Dawson and goalkeeping coach Barry Richardson have benefitted from a month to work with the players, but with three games in the week before the break, there was little more than a couple of gatherings at the club's Cottingham training base.
In that time, however, the new management group have brought a clarity to the players, something they're relishing, and more importantly in many ways, enjoying.
"It's always a challenge because, during a three-game week, we've probably had two opportunities to get on the training ground for about 30 minutes of tactical work," Walker continued.
"The open-mindedness of the players with some video stuff, they've been great in terms of taking on messages. The most important thing as a player is you want to step over the line and have some clarity about your role and responsibilities.
"Clearly, that's not always going to drop in in one week, it's a time thing. You need to cement some ideas with them, roles and responsibilities and we have a process that hopefully, they'll enjoy."
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