Three games to shape Tim Walter's Hull City future as Tigers face pivotal week

There will be an element of surprise on Saturday afternoon when Rob Edwards and Tim Walter come face-to-face at Kenilworth Road for the first time.

A little under two weeks ago, when Luton Town were thrashed 5-1 at Middlesbrough - their eighth defeat of this fledging season - and Hull City succumbed to yet another dispiriting home loss, there was an expectation in football that both managers would be on holiday come 3pm this weekend, while another manager, be that caretaker or permanent, took charge of their respective teams.

Notorious for sackings, the November international window has so far, passed without any major incidents, for those struggling clubs in the Championship, of which City and Town are two.

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Both managers had been widely expected to be sacked, and while Walter always felt the more unlikely of the two given Acun Ilicali's backing after the defeat at Oxford United, Edwards' post-match interviews at the Riverside Stadium gave the impression he thought the game was up.

Despite Ilicali backing the German head coach during the international break, that support will not be unwavering and if results don't improve, and quickly, then his hand may well be forced before Christmas, and that must start at Kenilworth Road.

City have endured a poor start to the season, though there are a lengthy list of mitigating factors to suggest why that has been the case; a change in manager, completely new approach, the best part of 40 players coming and going amid a muddled summer of recruitment.

For Luton, relegation from the Premier League was naturally going to have an effect, but few could have predicted the Hatters would lose eight of their first 15 games and be hovering above the drop zone by only goal difference, but Edwards deserves the time to turn things around, given he took them to the top flight in the first place.

The trip to Bedfordshire represents City's toughest assignment yet, given the context of their season. They face a team below them in the table and one who has struggled. Luton, you feel, will be at it. They've had two weeks to wallow in the thrashing on Teesside and will come out firing, and that's something Walter's men must be prepared for. It will be a physical, aerial battle at the Kenny, and how they deal with that will go a long way in determining how the game plays out, but defeat would see them sink closer to the drop zone and allow the Hatters to move ahead.

From there, the City have Sheffield Wednesday at the MKM Stadium on Tuesday night, and then there will be an early kick-off in Middlesbrough next weekend to round off their three-game week as the Championship returns with a bang.

Having already been beaten by Wednesday's reserves this season, Walter can ill-afford another home humbling from the Owls, who are just above them in the league table, while on 24 points to City''s 15, Boro are operating in a different league just at the moment.

While the situation right now feels less than favourable and the case for City making big steps forward given their season so far, it's also an opportunity. Three-game weeks can have a dramatic impact on the league table, and a team's confidence. A positive week for City would lift the mood significantly going into the final six games before Christmas and make the whole place feel a little better and the outlook brighter.

Walter will hope the last couple of weeks have acted as something of a circuit breaker for his side, but he knows the relentless chase for three points is back and he simply has to find a way of winning games of football at Hull City. He has three games this week to get points on the board, to get the Tigers upwardly mobile, otherwise, this season of discontent will only become more and more problematic for him, and Ilicali.