Fally Mayulu’s unerring drive six minutes from time looked to have inflicted defeat in Walter’s first competitive game in charge until Óscar Estupiñán clinically steered home a 91^st-minute penalty.

“Good from the stands, very energetic,” said the 48-year-old, whose MKM dugout debut was watched by over 21,000 supporters.

“At the beginning, especially in the first half, we created some chances but didn’t have the possession I want them to play.

“In the first half, we need more courage to play, more ball speed and we didn’t have it today.

“We changed a bit in the second half and it was better. It’s important to have a winger on the pitch who can go one-on-one and drop the opposition a bit deeper. That’s how we did it in the second half.

“Unfortunately, we conceded a goal, but at the end we showed character and they had a really good mentality.

“We tied at the end and that’s OK for me today but not for me maybe because I want to win all the time.”

Walter confirmed that new signing Cody Drameh and experienced midfielder Jean Michaël Seri missed the game through ankle and knee injuries respectively.

NEXT…

Bristol City head coach Liam Manning admits his immediate emotions were “frustration” and “annoyance” as they drew 1-1 at the MKM Stadium

Liam Manning refused to blame Joe Williams for his rash challenge that handed Hull City the chance to equalise from the penalty spot as Bristol City emerged from their opening game of 2024/25 with a 1-1 draw.

Outside of two early Max O’Leary saves to deny Matt Jacob and Oscar Estupinan, the Robins were in control for the vast majority of the game, constantly forcing Hull on the back foot and preventing them from getting out of their own half.

If there was one regret it was for all their possession and the sheer volume of balls won high up the pitch, City didn’t test Hull goalkeeper Ivor Pandur enough but Manning introduced Fally Mayulu for Sinclair Armstrong and the Frenchman delivered a stunning strike on debut to open the scoring with six minutes remaining.

However, Hull kept their heads up and a late break down the Robins left saw a cross swung to the back post where Liam Millar kept the ball in play and as the ball drifted towards Marvin Mehlem, Williams made the decision to make a challenge and was a fraction of a second late with referee Keith Stroud pointing to the spot and Estupinan doing the rest.