Why Jean Michael Seri-Ryan Wood partnership brings Hull City the sweet smell of success

The Tigers have won their last two games playing an unchanged 4-2-3-1 and Woods's defensive discipline and Seri's eye for a pass in central midfield have brought the best out of those around them.

There is a strong case for caretaker-coach Andy Dawson naming the same XI again at home to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday in what could be his farewell match with Hull closing in on another former defender, Liam Rosenior, as Shota Arveladze's long-term replacement.

Seri says what he and Woods have has little to do with training-ground work .

"In football you don't have to work on connections, both players have to smell the same football. That's it," insisted the Ivorian.

"If we smell the same football we don't need to speak, we just see what is happening and we will match automatically.

"When I played in Nice, for example, I played with some players and we didn't need to speak because we smelled the same football and that's what's happened with Woodsy."

But if the relationship between the pair has been off the cuff, Hull are reaping the rewards for Dawson bringing a more disciplined structure.

"You can see in transition, you can see it in second balls, how much we run," says Seri. "If the ball goes over to the left there is a player on the left. If it goes onto the right, there is a player on the right.

"If you have good shape and good players in good positions you can smash everything, especially in this league where everyone wants to attack and not a lot of them are thinking about shape.

"We don't concede on a lot of occasions because when we attack, we are ready to defend.

"We have to congratulate (Dawson) because he put the right players in the right place and the 4-2-3-1 is very good for our players.

"We don't have to speak too much because everyone knows we have to be there.

"After the game we do our analysis straight away so we can see where we have to improve."