With a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of Piraeus, Konstantinos Tzolakis has a head for numbers, and his all point to what a shrew signing Hull City have made.

""Everything, I think, is maths," says the goalkeeper from the land of Archimedes and Pythagoras.

Only Arsenal have conceded fewer goals than Hull's two this season, and if the Greek international can keep a clean sheet at Newcastle United on Saturday, he will already be halfway to his target for the season.

If chairman/owner Acun Ilicali has described Hull’s start to the season as a ‘miracle’, Tzolakis is a big factor in that.

Even some of the Premier League’s best foreign goalkeepers have needed time to adapt to its unique style, but Tzolakis' calm demeanour has seen him take to it effortlessly, instantly justifying his £20m price tag.

To learn a little more about the 23-year-old is to understand why.

Tzolakis is a man with a hinterland and a grounding in other sports. Having played in front of the fanatical Olympiacos supporters, the passion of English football was never likely to faze him.

"I really enjoy it," he says of life in England. "I didn't expect, to be honest, regarding the weather until now. It's perfect for me.

CALM PRESENCE: Hull City goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis (Image: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

placeholder image — CALM PRESENCE: Hull City goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis (Image: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

"Probably when we change the clocks it will be a little bit tougher but when we play in the Premier League, you cannot complain.

"When you play in the Greek league and go directly to the Premier League, it's different so you have to adapt as soon as possible.

"The speed, some rules at the corners, it's different. But until now, I didn't find any difficulties. When you play for Hull City, you don't have too much pressure.

"Last year, (Senne) Lammens at Manchester United played very well, and probably no one expected him to play straight away. But if you go directly to Manchester United, for example, and you made a mistake, you have a big pressure.

CONFIDENCE: Hull City coach Sergej Jakirovic believes in Konstantinos Tzolakis (Image: George Wood/Getty Images)

"Here it's not the same. If you made a mistake, you have 35 games to take points.

"When you play for Olympiacos, you have pressure to win every game and your target is to take the championship. Here, our target is to stay in the league.

"So if we take one point against Chelsea, it's very good for us. But you're not happy with one point at Olympiacos."

Being a high jumper until he was 16 gave Tzolakis athletic skills that serve him well, and his studies have developed him too.

ROLE MODEL: Edwin van der Sar (Image: CHRISTOF STACHE / AFP via Getty Images)

"To be smart and to be diligent when you play football, especially when you're a keeper, it's very important," he says. "Because it's not necessary to dive too high, too long, but when you have a nice position, everything is more easy.

"For example, against Coventry, I saved a ball near to the crossbar, so if my position was more left, it would be very hard to save the ball. But when I saw the ball and I said to myself, in these two seconds, you have to go more right, more right.

"Everything, I think, is maths.

"And when I retire from football, you have some money, so you have to know what you can do with this. You have 45 years more (to live)."

Even his choice of role model is instructive. His favourite Premier League goalkeepers as a youngster were Edwin van der Sar and Petr Cech – like Lammens, unfussy, calming presences.

"If you're not calm, you give something totally different to what you want for your defenders," says Tzolakis. “It's a problem for the team."

"MIRACEL": Hull City owner Acun Ilicali (Image: Tony Johnson)

That calmness radiated midway through the first half of his debut, with a couple of important saves against Manchester United.

"After the saves, sure, I felt comfortable," he recalls. "Also, I think I helped my team and my team-mates to feel comfortable."

Hull devoted a big part of their budget to Tzolakis – it was soon beaten, but when he joined, it was for a club record fee.

"We knew he has great potential, that he's a very good goalkeeper, No 1 Greek national team player, and the team helped him a lot," says coach Sergej Jakirovic. “He helped the team because he saved a lot of dangerous shots and I'm very happy.”

It says a lot for those in front that Tzolakis is only joint seventh – with Leeds United's James Trafford – when it comes to saves per game in this season's Premier League.

The fact Hull have had three shut-outs already – he had not been beaten until last week's trip to Stamford Bridge – is significant.

"They said to me if you keep seven or eight – I'm not sure which – clean sheets, you stay in the league," says Tzolakis. "So we have this target as a team. If we achieve this, probably we will stay in the league, that's the main target."