Hull City v Middlesbrough FC: Why Andy Dawson has no time for Liam Rosenior talk

Ahead of what most suspect to be his final outing as caretaker head coach - with City in the process of finalising a move for Liam Rosenior - Dawson was asked if he'd had the chance to speak to his former team-mate ahead of his likely return to East Yorkshire.

His answer was an unsurprising one, but it was not just a case of him straight-batting the question.

Quite simply, Dawson has had too much on his plate to even think about what happens in the future.

There's little time for chatter amid the sort of gruelling schedule which the Championship is notorious for.

The world of Dawson and his staff currently revolves around organising rest, recovery and tactical sessions alongside analysing opponents and everything else that comes with operating in one of the most intense leagues in world football.

Dawson, who is supported on the touchline by an ex-Boro player in Redcar’s Robbie Stockdale, said: "No, I have not spoken to him (Rosenior) as my job is to concentrate on the team now.

"There’s no reason why I would.

"We will have had five games in around two weeks and we cannot look past the next day really and the next game.

"Our job is to plan, prepare and hopefully help the players perform to the max and that won't change. That is our main role and responsibility.

"I have been in football long enough and there has always been speculation about every club and every little detail, everything.

"It has been like that whenever I have been a player or a coach.

"The only thing you can control is yourself, your professionalism and people around you.

"That is all we have done as a staff from minute one from the Luton Town game and that is what we will continue to do until told any different.”

The fact that Boro are just one game into the Michael Carrick era means that Dawson will be in the dark as to what to fully expect.

At his pre-match press conference, the new Boro chief spoke about being flexible in terms of his tactics and was understandably coy when asked whether Duncan Watmore or Matt Crooks would be available after missing his first game in command at Preston.

Carrick did spring one surprise and an effective one at that with former Hull loanee Chuba Akpom successfully operating as a number ten.

If remains to be seen if the north-easterner has another trick up his sleeve ahead of a key test against Hull, whom struggling Boro would move level on points with if they prevail down the North Sea coast.

On what to expect, Dawson commented: "He has had just one game and it does take a little bit of time to put your stamp on the way you want to do things and way you want to work. There were little things with shape changes on Saturday.

"Will that change on Tuesday night? I am not too sure.

"But listen, he is an experienced professional who knows the game inside out, so we’ll respect whatever comes at us from the first whistle.

"We all know what the Championship is about and there's not much between the teams. They have got a new manager and all their players will be excited to perform for him.

"Our job as a staff is to help our players perform to the maximum and I am sure that if we do that right we have got a really good chance of performing and getting a result."

The game sees Marcus Forss make his first return to City after a underwhelming loan spell in the second half of last season when he scored just once in 11 matches.

The Finn has since completed a permanent £2.5m move to Boro from Brentford. He has netted just once this season for the Teessiders and has had a tepid start to life at the club.

Football is always full of quirks and subplots and Forss – who came on for the final 20 minutes in Carrick’s opener at Deepdale - might just be in the points-scoring business if he is handed a chance.

Dawson, whose big call revolves around whether he restores top-scorer Oscar Estupinan to the starting line-up after being on the bench for the past three games, continued: "I did not work with Marcus as I was with the under-23s. But I am sure he will (want to prove a point).

"He is a professional footballer who has been on loan at a club and has now gone somewhere else.

"I don't necessarily think he’ll be working any harder if he plays than what he has in recent games.

"But that is up to them to do their business. We have to worry about ours.”

Last six: Hull WLLWWL; Middlesbrough WLLWDL.

Referee: D Whitestone (Northants).

Last time: Hull 2 Middlesbrough 0, October 2, 2021; Championship.