Tigers stay tight-lipped

Little was under pressure after a poor run of results

Hull chairman Adam Pearson is remaining tight-lipped over the successor to manager Brian Little.

Little paid the price for a string of poor results at the big-spending Third Division club that has seen the Tigers threaten to slip out of the promotion race.

Assistants Kevan Smith and David Moore also felt the weight of the axe.

First-team coach Billy Russell will take charge for the trip to Swansea and could continue in a caretaker's role until the summer.

Pearson is known to be a big fan of Scunthorpe boss Brian Laws and Cheltenham coach Steve Cotterill.

Billy will be in charge of the team at Swansea and probably the caretaker boss until the summer but nothing is set in stone

Hull chairman Adam Pearson

But both clubs would be loathe to lose their managers at this stage of the season as they vie with Hull for a Third Division play-off place.

Laws' contract with the Iron expires in the summer and Pearson dropped a clue on the identity of his possible targets.

He said: "I have a narrow shortlist of long term replacements in mind, however none of them are available until the summer.

"All of the candidates will have the right pedigree and background to take Hull City forward into the higher divisions."

Pearson confirmed: "Billy will be in charge of the team at Swansea and probably the caretaker boss until the summer but nothing is set in stone.

"To lose Brian is a big blow to the club at this time. I have a great deal of respect for him and I'm sure he'll go on to do a great job elsewhere.

"It's very difficult to part company with somebody you respect."

Little had spent £1m on new players since the summer and leaves the team sixth in Division Three.

Little began his managerial career at Wolves in 1986 where he had eight games in charge.

After a five-year absence he joined Darlington as first-team boss in 1991 before going onto manage Leicester and then Aston Villa.

After being sacked by Villa he had a spell out of the game before linking up with Stoke City.

Little then spent seven unhappy months at the Hawthorns with West Brom before linking up with Hull in April 2000.

A club statement said: "Following a meeting on Wednesday 27 February 2002, it was decided that Brian Little and Hull City AFC should part company with immediate effect.