Mason skull fracture gives Hull coach perspective

London - The fractured skull suffered by Hull City midfielder Ryan Mason puts the club's on-pitch commitments in perspective, manager Marco Silva said on Wednesday.

Mason is making "excellent progress" at a London hospital after sustaining the serious injury in an aerial collision with Gary Cahill during Sunday's 2-0 defeat at Premier League leaders Chelsea.

Hull are fighting to stay in the Premier League and face Manchester United in the second leg of their League Cup semi-final on Thursday, in which they will seek to overturn a 2-0 deficit.

But Silva told his pre-match press conference: "At this moment we need to forget everything. The most important is the player and his family. The other things are not important."

Hull's players will wear "MASON 25" T-shirts during Thursday's warm-up - a reference to Mason's age and squad number - and fans have been encouraged to join in with a minute's applause in the 25th minute.

Hull return to London this weekend for an FA Cup fourth-round game against second-tier Fulham on Sunday and Silva said he would use the opportunity to visit Mason.

"After the game it's impossible for me because everything is fast," Silva said. "Our staff will be dealing with the players.

"It's not easy in this moment and the player has visitors, but sure, on Saturday I will be there. It's important to support the player and his family. Of course it's not an easy moment for us, the team.

"But we need to be strong, to be together, to keep the players together and support Ryan - that's the most important (thing)."