Portsmouth's Championship rivals make decision on boss that will hardly please fanbase

Pressure from Tigers fans has been growing on boss Tim Walter, whose side currently sit 19th in the table and three points above the relegation zone.

A seven-match winless run ahead of the international break led TEAMtalk to claim the former Hamburg manager’s position at the MKM Stadium was under threat and would be discussed by the club’s hierarchy this week.

However, owner Acun Ilicali has since come out to defend the 49-year-old. He claims Walter is not wholly to blame for the position Hull currently find themselves in after three wins from 15 Championship games played.

Instead, he believes mitigating circumstances are at play, including injuries and key refereeing decisions going against his side in game.

Speaking to Hull Live, Ilicali said: ‘We are not in a position to blame Tim or judge Tim at the moment. In order to judge Tim from my side, I must look at the bigger picture and only in one game, at Norwich City (a 4-0 defeat), we didn't have the chance to win. Apart from that, in the other 14 games, we had the chance to win the games.

‘We've had some bad luck on the pitch in the nearly three years I've been here, but in the last four months, it's been by far and away the unluckiest period.

‘For example, I can count two games where I think refereeing mistakes have had a negative impact on our results, one a very clear handball and the other, the referee was almost like a defender for the other team, and there was a penalty not given. 

‘Away from that, the injuries we're suffering from at the moment, we're so unlucky to lose two of the best players we signed in the summer - Liam Millar and Mohamed Belloumi - I wish them all the best.

"We've also got Carl Rushworth, our goalkeeper, and other injuries with Steven Alzate and Marvin Mehlem out and Oscar Zambrano unavailable, and Abu Kamara in the last two games, it's affecting the squad so much. How can we judge Tim when he has so many big problems in the team?

‘I understand fans' worries about performances, but I believe once we get our players back, the style is correct. There have been two or three games so far where we could have gone two or 3-0 up in the first half, and unfortunately, from those games, we lost points, and that was disappointing.

‘If the game was negative and the results were good, I would be more pessimistic.’

Hull’s 1-1 draw with Pompey earlier this month has contributed to their current winless run - a game, as Ilicali says, could have seen the home side take a comfortable lead into half-time.

Yet, Pompey were a completely different side after the break and were the unfortunate ones not to take home the three points following an impressive second-half performance that saw Josh Murphy score an equaliser within seconds of the restart and Callum Lang hitting the woodwork in injury-time.

Hull have lost both their games since the day and return to action next Saturday with a trip to fellow strugglers Luton.

Pompey, who beat Preston 3-1 on their last outing, travel to Blackburn once the international break is over.