Hull City boss Liam Rosenior says it’s imperative he has an open and honest dialogue with owner Acun Ilicali and vice-chairman Tan Kesler as the trio continue to forge a successful relationship.

City are enjoying their best Championship season in almost a decade and will return to action on Good Friday with just nine games of the campaign left for them to clinch a place in the top six, as excitement around the MKM Stadium grows.

There wasn’t so much excitement on February 10 when City produced a below-par display to lose at home to struggling Swansea City, and it was a poignant game in more ways than one. The result came on the back of a 1-0 win over Millwall in what was the first game after a hectic transfer window closed.

Vice-chairman Tan Kesler admitted recently that the manner of the performance and defeat against the Welsh outfit left him feeling low and needing reassurances from Rosenior that things were going in the right direction.

Rosenior said in the aftermath of the defeat to the Swans that he expected a setback given the likes of Anass Zaroury, Ryan Giles, Fabio Carvalho and Noah Ohio hadn’t played much football, while Jean Michael Seri had been away at the Africa Cup of Nations and Jaden Philogene was recovering from a two-month spell out with a knee injury, and so it transpired as his side have since gone seven unbeaten, winning three and drawing their last four.

“We have those heart-to-hearts all the time,” Rosenior said of his relationship with Kesler. “I think there was a real panic not from Tan, just around the club, I sensed after that game.

“I said to you after the Swansea game that I expected that performance against Millwall. We signed some outstanding players, none of those players had any match fitness in their legs, no sharpness, not many games and it takes time.

“It takes time to do what we’re trying to. We’re trying to accelerate a process ahead of schedule, to be honest with you. From that moment, from Millwall, we’ve got two points a game in the last seven games (prior to the draw with Birmingham) with a pretty much new group.

“Mika has come back into it, Jaden wasn’t fit, you’ve got the new lads who haven’t been part of this group for a long time. We’re in a really good place. And when I spoke to Tan, I was really calm, like I try to be all the time.

“I said ‘we’ll be fine, this is part of the process,’ and what I have to say with Tan is when I’ve needed his counsel and I’ve needed a pick me up, he’s always given it to me, and he’s always been the one saying to me, ‘Liam, don’t panic, trust the process.’

“So I think it was the only time since I’ve been here, it was a little bit the other way around, and that’s why we work really well together because we’re open and we’re honest and we care about this club and we’re not afraid to tell each other how we feel.

“I think at that moment Tan was just really nervous and that’s normal, that’s part of football and it’s my job not to do that and to look at the overall analysis of where we are and not get too high and not get too low and stay really calm, which is hard, but that’s my job and so far, so good.”

Given the passionate way in which both Ilicali and Kesler run the East Yorkshire club, the pair could perhaps be forgiven for being difficult to contain when it comes to the excitement about what could follow in the next couple of months, should City clinch a place in the top six.

Rosenior, though, says the relationship between the trio works and has been particularly crucial at different stages of the season, not least after that early season loss to Doncaster Rovers in the Carabao Cup.

“No, I think I think they help me, especially Acun,” Rosenior continued. “Tan’s here pretty much every day, we have really, really good communication. Acun’s the big boss, and Tan will be the first to say that as well.

“There have been times this season early in the season and in pre-season when we lost to Doncaster, I’ll never forget Acun telling me, ‘Stick with it, you’re doing fine, everything’s going to be OK.’

“What happens is when you have a good working relationship, you can be really open when you don’t have a good working relationship, you kind of hide your emotions.

“I’ve always been open with Acun and Tan and they’ve been so open with me, we’re all on the same page. We all know, actually staying calm and trusting the idea of what we wanted to do, look where we are now and that’s the most important thing.

“I promise you, my interviews will probably become more boring as we get closer to the end of the season, I’ll probably come out with more cliches because I’m the one who has to stay calm and has to see the bigger picture.

“And the bigger picture is if you said at the start of the season, you’re going to be in the top six with 10 games to go or 11 games to go, everyone would have been delighted, so there’s no reason to panic or get too excited or get too down, just move on to the next game and do the best you can.”