Chelsea duo given chance to impress Hull City's Liam Rosenior

The 38-year-old is no different to just about every new manager on the planet in coming into a football club and promising a clean slate.

He proved the point by sending assistant manager Justin Walker to watch the under-21s against Coventry City on Monday night rather than bringing him with the first team for Tuesday's Championship game at Cardiff City.

With bodies and minds no doubt tired by playing 53 minutes with ten men in Saturday's 0-0 draw at Millwall and Oscar Estupinan suspended because of his red card, there could be opportunities for some of those overlooked at The Den in South Wales.

"Every single player if they earn it, they will get the chance to play," said Rosenior, repeating the mantra he has been rolling out since his appointment on Thursday.

"Justin will be going to the game, he's not travelling with us to Cardiff because he's going to go and watch the under-21s play.

"That's for two reasons: one, we're true to our word – I've spoken to a few players playing in that game to say we're going to be keeping an eye on them. And two, it will be great for Justin to get to know the academy staff as well. I want to bring a really close relationship through the club."

Rosenior has brought Walker from his previous club Derby County to work alongside him as one of two assistant coaches. The other is Rosenior's former Tigers team-mate Andy Dawson, but he needs no introduction to any aspect of a club he has served as player, captain, youth coach, first-team coach, caretaker manager and supporter.

Rosenior is in negotiations with another club about bringing in an additional coach.

Assuming they are not in South Wales – and it seems unlikely – those hoping to impress Walker are likely to include Chelsea loanees Harvey Vale and Xavier Simons.

Winger Vale was injured on England Under-20s duty days after his Tigers debut, whilst midfielder Simons has played eight minutes for the club.

Hull are weighing up whether to appeal the length of Estupinan's three-match ban for a high challenge that caught Charlie Cresswell in the face, leaving the Leeds United loanee needing stitches, but not the red card itself, so the top-scorer will definitely be missing in Cardiff.

Ryan Longman, who played on the wing at The Den, and Tyler Smith are options to replace Estupinan but Rosenior will consider other changes too as he looks to strike a balance between freshness and giving his side the best chance of victory.

"You always have to consider the physical and psychological aspect," he said. "It's so tiring, the travelling we have to do as well. All of those things come into consideration for the team selection as well but I'm really fortunate I have a good squad, I'm aware of that and at the right times hopefully I'll get the decisions right.

"You need to get the balance right and I want the players engaged. I gave the players the day off on Sunday because they put so much effort in in terms of running and psychologically so I wanted them to spend time with their families. But when they're in they have to be engaged and fresh.

"It's finding that balance.

"Justin's been in one day, I've been in two and we will analyse. That's what we do because we want to improve the players but you need to make sure you do it at the right time."

If there was a positive from Estupinan's dismissal it is that it focused minds on what needs to be the first step for a Hull side that has too often lacked tactical discipline this season. The clean sheet was Hull's first since they welcomed a Preston North End side seemingly allergic to goals 18 matches ago.

"It was a great opportunity, I said it to the players at half-time," said Rosenior. "We've been working on our defensive shape and our compactness as a team and it was almost like go out and put the practice in and you get your just rewards.

"Football's never perfect and when it doesn't go your way, it's how the players react. It's such a difficult place and it could be a really important moment in our season to give them confidence to push forward.

"Another message I gave to the players is that has to be the benchmark and we have to improve from those levels of organisation, commitment and energy. You can't turn it on one game and turn it off the next so we have to make that a foundation of our game as well as wanting to improve our attacking play and our possession work as well."

As it stands, Estupinan's suspension is due to bridge the World Cup break, taking in Saturday's game at home to Swansea City and the match at Watford on December 11.

His native Colombia are not involved at the World Cup, but have a friendly against Paraguay in Florida scheduled for November 20.