Hull City v Sunderland: Life's a beach for Tigers players in Turkey - but no jolly-up either reveals Tim Walter

Listen to head coach Tim Walter and its purpose was served on two critical fronts.

Some detailed technical and tactical sessions were completed, with a friendly against Alanyaspor also fitted into the programme.

Away from the football pitch, the development of relationships between a relatively new-look squad and staff was just as important according to Walter, who felt it was worlds away from the camp held in the summer when a number of Hull players probably did not know whether they were coming or going in truth, in the middle of the summer window.

For Walter, the hope is that it has set the Tigers up for the late autumn and winter slog.

He said: "You can’t compare it (with the summer trip).

"To be honest, the first trip was sometimes very frustrating. Now, I was very happy because they have improved so much, especially in how they behave and treat each other.

"It was a sunny trip, but a deep-working one, more in details, to spend more time together.

"Especially to get to know each other better. For that, it was really a brilliant trip.

"They did almost everything together and it was good to see and easy to handle them because they did so many things together and really worked hard in every session.

"It doesn't matter what we did... We also played beach volleyball together. They may not be the best players tactically, but they invested everything.

"I had so much fun with them and I saw they brought everything to the team."

Life certainly wasn’t a beach in Hull’s last outing before the recent break, a 4-0 defeat at Norwich, which had followed a trio of morale-boosting victories against Stoke, Cardiff and QPR to revive the Tigers’ spirits after a tough start to 2024-25.

Despite the setback, Walter feels Hull’s players are in a much better place, in terms of their mindset, than they were at the start of the campaign.

He continued: "They know how they played and know their mistakes. We are not really clinical enough and we made so many mistakes. But we don’t find excuses.

"You can face them with criticism and they are open with this. So we worked even harder with them (in Turkey) and they understand.

"It's not about wanting to be harsh with them, it is more about ‘I want to help you’ and now they are really open for that.

"Now they can understand me more and know I can understand the mentality of my players more.

"All I want to do is help them be successful. I am really happy about their own critical ability."

Loan goalkeeper Carl Rushworth has added to the Tigers' injury concerns by picking up an ankle injury in training on Friday, which will require an MRI scan.

Another blow has seen midfielder Steven Alzate pick up a calf problem which will also need further investigation and a scan, with Walter confirming that the club are waiting on the results.

Ryan Longman and Dogukan Sinik are still out for Hull, alongside goalkeepers Timothee Lo-Tutala and Harvey Cartwright.

The game will see both clubs compete for the Raich Carter Trophy, in memory of the legendary former City and Sunderland favourite.