Hull City's Andy Dawson reveals details of Tim Walter departure as he discusses suspension

Andy Dawson wants to put the smile back on the faces of Hull City's players and supporters after a turbulent few months at the MKM Stadium, starting at Middlesbrough on Saturday.

Dawson was put in temporary charge of first team affairs at City following the sacking of Tim Walter on Wednesday afternoon, hours after a dismal 2-0 home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, the second home loss to the Owls in the early weeks of the campaign.

Two years on from his last foray as caretaker boss at a club he served with distinction as a player and then academy coach, Dawson will go again, this time at the Riverside Stadium looking to stop a run of nine games without victory and four straight defeats which ultimately proved, in part, to be the downfall of Walter.

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“We’ve had a meeting this morning with everybody together, and the message was to stick together, look after each other and go and enjoy what you’re doing," Dawson told Hull Live on the eve of the trip to Teesside.

“And hopefully, we can go and perform on Saturday because it’s another game of football, and it’s another game to go and show what they can do and enjoy the game that they’ve been in for many a year since they were kids, and that’s what we’ve got to try to get back into them."

Walter often bemoaned the lack of lady luck shining on their side throughout the opening months of the campaign, and though Dawson says you need to earn it, he admits he wouldn't mind a slice at the Riverside Stadium against play-off-chasing Boro to stem the tide of damaging defeats.

"Hopefully, we have a little bit of luck as well because, let’s be honest, we’ve not had much luck in recent weeks. And to do that we need everybody together, that’s every member of staff at the football club, that’s every fan that we’ve got supporting us.

“Because it’s not easy; the lads, when you’ve not won in a number of games, they’re human beings, and confidence can be low. I know how hard it will be for them at times, but we’ve got their back, and that’s every single person. We’ve got a fantastic bunch of fans that are going to support us on Saturday. Go out and enjoy what you do, lads, go and play. Go and work hard. It’s another game of football to go and express yourself.”

Dawson, who will lead the team until Acun Ilicali brings in a permanent successor to Walter, revealed the events following the German's exit, and how the now former manager came to the training ground to say his goodbyes before heading back to his homeland.

“I spoke to them yesterday," he said. "They’re good guys, and I wish them all the best in the future. I’ll stay in contact with them. They came in to see the lads this morning (Thursday) – fair play to them because that can’t be easy, walking in this morning, so full credit to them. They said their goodbyes to the lads and the staff. I wish Tim and ‘Tapa’ (Filip Tapalovic) and Julian (Huebner) all the best, and I’m sure they’ll go and do really well wherever their next adventure will be.”

The Northallerton-born club legend will also have to do without talented young defender Charlie Hughes, who picked up his fifth booking of the season in a clash with Ike Ugbo on Tuesday and will therefore sit the game out with Sean McLoughlin returning for the first time since the defeat at Norwich, at the start of the winless run. Hughes collected four cautions from City and one from Wigan Athletic prior to his move from the DW Stadium.

One key thing Dawson will be looking to change quickly is City's inability to keep a clean sheet, with just one in the 17 games so far, and he says it's something they've spoken about, again.

"Yes, definitely (an important job). We spoke about it after the game on Tuesday," he mused. "Absolutely. To win any game, you've got to be solid, you've got to be organised, and you've got to keep clean sheets unless you're going to score three or four, and at the moment, that's not what's happening.

"That'll be the message that'll never change for us. You have to work, and that's not the keeper, that's not the defenders, that's from one to 11 plus the subs plus the lads that aren't involved, and that won't change as a principle, as a standard, as a value.

"That starts out there on a training day, because you don't just get clean sheets on a Saturday afternoon, you get it by everything you do. Being in the gym, getting strength work and stuff so you can head the ball out (of danger) in the last minute.

"We do need to value that more, we do need more clean sheets, but I'm not going to talk about, it's about what we do every single day, and things like that will happen, clean sheets will happen, wins will come, goals will come, but it's not magic, it's through hard work and determination, grit and resilience in everything that you do."