Hull City v Derby County: Lewie Coyle relishing pressure as Tigers aim for a survival Saturday

Demotion is likely to cost non-football staff their jobs, and see players moved on.

Hull versus Derby is a real pressure game.

Lewie Coyle cannot wait.

Deeply invested in their club's fortunes but helpless to do much about them, supporters see the pitfalls everywhere. Footballers see the opportunities, the chance to be a hero.

"Pressure is a privilege" was one of previous coach Tim Walter's favourite English phrases.

"I certainly enjoy pressure and I know all the boys do, that's probably why they're all playing professional football at a high level,” says Hull’s captain. “If you can't deal with pressure you're probably not in the position all of us are, including the staff.

"You're there to be shot at, there to be judged, there to be criticised and you have to turn up week in, week out and perform.

"It's a pressure we enjoy, we thrive on. It's always nice silencing a few doubters along the way, for sure."

Coyle will feel the pressure more than most. For most of Hull's multinational squad, pulling on the black and amber is a job, for the 29-year-old full-back born in the city, it is the fulfilment of a dream.

He was nearly 25 before he did it for the first time, after starting at Leeds United, then moving to Fleetwood Town, and back then it was a club at a low ebb. Championship play-off contenders at the turn of 2020, Coyle joined a club which had dropped into League One by the end of the Covid-stretched season.

Coyle led the side out of League One at the first attempt and had got back to where they started the decade only for the disastrous decision last May to sack Liam Rosenior and replace him with Walter.

"I know what it means to me, I know what it means to the lads," he says when asked about relegation.

"There's a personal connection with me being from here and I'll be doing everything I can in my power but all the boys and the staff are.

"There's a lot of people wanting us to do it and also a lot of people not wanting us to do it.

"First and foremost for our own personal pride and collectively as a team we want to win that football match regardless of what's riding on it but we're not naive, we know what is riding on us winning on Saturday.

"There's loads of little motivations amongst us."

Being the figurehead of his club brings extra demands and expectations, and often puts Coyle at the front of the queue when it comes to being the whipping boy.

Whilst he is never, in all honesty, likely to be Hull’s most gifted player, his leadership qualities shine out. New players, especially overseas ones, often reference the job Coyle has done in helping them settle in, and understand the values of the club and the area.

"Life chucks a lot of things at us and that tests your character and you find out what you're really about," he says. "To have a group of guys and a staff relying on me, looking at me as the captain when it gets tough, I've fully enjoyed that. It's something I thrive off.

"I feel at my best when I'm under pressure, being shot at, being relied on. That's when I come alive."

Former Southampton coach and caretaker manager Ruben Selles is certainly a fan.

"I've been lucky especially in recent years to work with some great captains like James Ward-Prowse," he says. "Coyley is at the level of James as a person that leads by example, communicative when he needs to be, integrating people but also being firm in his position as a captain.

"It's always easier coaching a dressing room when you have a captain that can facilitate that."

And Selles' time at crisis-ridden Reading, where he started the season, allows him to put Saturday into some perspective.

"With Reading we faced situations where it's not about losing a game, it's about the club disappearing and potentially everyone losing their job," he says.

This, on the other hand, is what he does it for.

"I feel better than I have been feeling," he says. "Now is the moment you want to play for. I'm ready to coach my team to do the job.

"I like those scenarios – all or nothing. Hopefully it's an end point of the season."

• On-loan midfielder Oscar Zambrano has reportedly had his doping ban reduced from 16 months to 12 on appeal. He will be able to resume playing in early November, by which time he is due to be back at parent club LDU Quito.