Dimitrios Pelkas on why he is looking forward to Pedro Martins becoming his Hull City coach

And the forward is pleased the players showed their prospective new boss some character which had been lacking in recent games by coming from behind.

Martins arrived in East Yorkshire on Tuesday to begin negotiations over the vacant post, and was in the stands for Wednesday's 2-1 win at home to Wigan Athletic. At the time of writing, a deal was still awaiting finalisation.

As a Greek international, Pelkas is well aware of Martins' qualities. The Portuguese had four full seasons as Olympiacos coach, winning the Greek title in the last three, only to be sacked in August for failing to qualify for the Champions League.

The 11 games his successor, ex-Huddersfield Town coach Carlos Corberan, was in charge of before his sacking puts that into context.

"I didn't know he was there (on Wednesday) but he did a great job in Greece, he won titles and took them into Europe," said Pelkas, who had eight years with PAOK before moving to Fenerbahce in 2020.

"I don't know him personally and we only played against him so I cannot give a clear opinion but if he gets the job, let's see what happens.

"He stayed there (so long) because he did a great job. This year they didn't qualify for the Champions League and that's why he was replaced. I follow Greek football and I know some details.

"We're all preparing to welcome the new manager and we have to work hard.

"We talked about it as players and said we have to help everyone in every moment of the game. The attackers have to defend hard, the defenders must help us up front. This is the only way we can achieve our target.

"We have to play as one and it's not so easy with a new team. We had at least four players who hadn't played together before and it's not easy but we don't have time to worry about it, we have to adapt fast."

After five straight defeats, the last four without scoring, Hull showed spirit to come from behind and beat the Latics.

Pelkas, whose injury-delayed Tigers debut came at the start of the latter of those sequences thinks his headed equaliser was vital on a number of levels.

"My goal was very crucial because all the team took confidence from it and all the team believed we could win the game," he reflected. "We lost too many of the previous games and we have to take this confidence and build on it.

"I needed this goal. It was my first goal for Hull. I scored for my national team (against Northern Ireland last month) but here I hadn't scored yet so I felt very good. I put all my passion into the celebration.

"It was a great feeling for me and the team because we reacted. In the previous games we didn't react when the opposition scored the first goal but this time we got a reaction from everyone.

"It was really important to take the three points. But then we have to forget this game and continue. Sunday (when Hull travel to Huddersfield) will be a very important game."