Liam’s bed news for Tigers WAGS

HULL boss Liam Rosenior is happy playing the bad guy among his players’ families.

Rosenior demands his squad stay in the team hotel before all away games to get them fully focused on the task at hand.

That makes him Mr Unpopular with the Tigers’ wives and girlfriends.

“We stay overnight ahead of every away game,” said Rosenior ahead of his side’s trip to Stoke in today’s lunchtime kick-off.

“It doesn’t matter how close the game is, I want the players to be close and together the night before.

“You’d have to ask the players if they’re happy with that. It’s one of my non-negotiables.

“We’ve got a lot of players here with young children, I’m sure their wives and girlfriends won’t like me for this, but sometimes to be fully focused on the job and get a good night’s sleep away from that is really important to your performance.”

After three defeats, Alex Neil’s Stoke stopped the rot with a point at Huddersfield in midweek, but a first Championship win in over a

month would be the perfect tonic after a stuttering start to the season.

The influx of summer signings are still taking time to gel and Neil said: “There aren’t massive differences between teams in the Championship, especially if you take out the three who came down from the Premier League.

“If you take the rest, almost everyone else expects to finish above 20th.

“There is a bulk of teams who are very close which makes this division one of the most competitive in the world. There’s probably 18 teams who think they can finish in the top six.

“The more you play together, the more you get an understanding of that and are help and get those distances and gaps right.

“Understanding how quick a team-mate is, whether you need to play it in front of him or to his feet, all those little details matter.”