Tim Walter faces big Hull City selection decision after competition admission
Tim Walter says it's important to have Carl Rushworth in his Hull City squad as he faces a big decision ahead of Friday night's Yorkshire derby with Sheffield United.
Rushworth arrived on deadline day from Brighton and Hove Albion to provide strong competition for Ivor Pandur and another summer arrival in Anthony Racioppi, along with Thimothee Lo-Tutala and Harvey Cartwright.
Pandur has started all four Championship games so far and has settled into his role looking more comfortable with each passing week. As for Racioppi, who played in the Champions League for Young Boys last season, he has played just once with that coming in the Carabao Cup loss at home to Sheffield Wednesday last month.
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City's decision to sign Rushworth surprised many, given Racioppi's arrival, but the 23-year-old Halifax-born stopper has been a long-term target and the club moved quickly to sign him on loan when it became apparent late in the window that the Seagulls would allow him to leave on a short-term basis.
Walter says it's imperative his squad has competition throughout, something he openly admits wasn't there in the early weeks of pre-season training.
"That's (competition) good to have in every position," he told Hull Live. "If you have a challenge, then it's better to get to a point where you can perform better, and that's important for our team because this is what we didn't have at the beginning.
"There was no competition in the training sessions, and then you can't perform on the pitch because the opposition are much further ahead than we are, and therefore we needed more bodies, and that's what we have at the moment and I'm happy about it."