Hull City forward Mason Burstow has admitted his relationship with ex-boss Tim Walter became so strained he felt like "giving up".
Burstow scored his first goal for the club in the Tigers' 3-1 defeat to Middlesbrough on Saturday, the game that immediately followed Walter's dismissal.
The Chelsea loanee claimed he tried to speak to Walter about a lack of game time during the early stage of the season but did not receive clarification as to why he was often left out of the side.
"I tried to speak to him a couple of times about playing time and what I can work on to get in the side because I felt like I trained well every day," he told BBC Radio Humberside.
"It was one of those things where I wasn’t really getting anything back so you almost had the feeling of giving up - it was difficult."
The 21-year-old started just two Championship matches under Walter before the German was sacked last week following a 2-0 home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.
"Its tough because I felt like it was unnatural," he added.
"Coming through youth academies you always felt like you could speak to a staff member, you felt like you could get your points across - it was probably the first time I felt like I couldn’t."
The England Under-20 international added that his relationship with new interim boss Andy Dawson is more positive, however.
"Since they've come in, him and Erb [goalkeeping coach Erbil Bozkurt] have been two people we feel like we can speak to," said Burstow.