Hull City 1 Bristol City 1: Oscar Estupinan rescues point for undercooked Tigers

Hull City will be busy in what remains of the transfer window but the Championship season started on Saturday, and the Tigers were patently not ready for it.

So to come away with a 1-1 draw courtesy of Oscar Estupinan's stoppage-time penalty was a real bonus. Things really can only get better, surely.

A better side than Bristol City would have put the game out of sight before then, but it took the Robins until the 84th minute to make the most of overplaying and pressing on Matty Jacob that other referees may have punished to through Fally Mayulu, the second of the centre-forwards they have signed this summer.

Plenty upped and left at that point, with no faith their side could find an equaliser.

Marvin Mehlem was Hull's only new signing in an XI featuring seven players who did not make Liam Rosenior's last one, albiet Abdulkadir Omur, Lewie Coyle and Ryan Giles came off the bench that day.

In fairness, they looked much brighter when another – Liam Millar – came off the bench, along with youngster Will Jarvis and Mehlem became one of two attacking central midfielders with Abdulkadir Omur.

For all the emphasis on Hull possession, they only had 40 per cent of the ball in the hour before they came on.

It did not take long for the home fans – and defensive midfielder Oscar Zambrano who was at the stadium ahead of a proposed move – to suss out the pros and cons of Walterball in its first competitive outing in England. Unfortunately it did not take the Robins that long either.

Coach Tim Walter has been brought in to provide a more exciting brand of football and he instantly served up more edge-of-the-seat football, but sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for.

To play as the German wants to, inviting the opposition onto his players as close to Hull's goal as possible then springing attacks with players constantly switching positions, you need good players and especially players who are comfortable on the ball.

Hopefully given that he is a Mancester City employee, Finley Burns, a very late substitute after arriving on loan the previous day, will be one such player.

Inside the first two minutes debutant goalkeeper Ivor Pandur was tapping the ball around with left-back Jacob yards from his net ina dress rehearsal of the opening goal. A minute later the more positive side of Walterball was on show as central midfielder Regan Slater popped up on the right and shot from a tight angle.

Giles – a left-back under Rosenior, a left winger under Walter – played a gorgeous pass to Mehlem early on, only for Estupinan to make his run too early as the playmaker picked him out.

Max O'Leary saved a Slater volley low down, then brilliantly from point blank as Giles found Estupinan with a wonderful cross.

But after a while, the Robins got their head around it.

A poor Coyle pass across his box was met with a terrible Jackson Bird shot, Anis Mehmeti did not get enough on the ball as he steered a Cameron Pring cross.

There were audible groans midway through the first half when Sean McLoughlin turned and passed blind to Pandur. Next he tried to dribble between Joe Williams and Mark Sykes on the edge of his area and lost the ball. Xavier Simons eventually won it back at the expense of a corner.

Near the end of the half ran onto a short goal-kick – they all were – in his area and turned the ball over and jeers when Coyle turned on the halfway line to pass to Pandur.

Not that last season's back-up central defender was the only culprit – Bristol City preyed on left-back Jacob in possession too. He did, though make an excellent block five minutes after the interval to deflect Mehmeti's shot onto the crossbar.

Both sides had restarted the game as they ended it.

Given the performance of both left-siders, it was a surprise Giles made way for Millar as Hull went from 4-2-3-1 to more of a 4-3-3 but the changes worked, with the new winger a real threat.

Estupinan was millimetre away from converting a Millar. Simons blazed a strike over and Jarvis shot at O'Leary when played in by the midfielder.

But Hull kept giving the ball away at the back, and when Mayulu scored, a pulsating match looked set to end 1-0.

Hull and especially Millar kept going, though, the Canadian touching the ball back for Mehlem to be fouled. Estupinan buried his penalty.

The Tigers are up and running but they have a lot of work to do.

Hull City: Pandur; Coyle, Jones, McLoughlin, Jacob (Sellars-Fleming 87); Slater (Jarvis 59), Simons; Omur, Mehlem (Burns 90+4), Giles (Millar 59); Estupinan.

Unused substitutes: Fleming, Smith, Racioppi, Ashbee, Tinsdale.

Bristol City: O’Leary; Tanner, Dickie, Pring; Bird, Knight (Wells 72); Sykes (Bell 72), Williams, Mehmeti (Naismith 89); Armstrong (Mayulu 64).

Unused substitutes: Bajic, Gardner-Hickman, Pecover, Roberts, Stokes.

Referee: K Stroud (Hampshire).