Hull City have announced Ryan Mason has suffered a fractured skull and is in stable condition in hospital.
The 25-year-old midfielder has undergone surgery at St Mary’s Hospital in London following a clash of heads with Gary Cahill during Sunday’s 2-0 Premier League defeat against Chelsea.
Mason is expected to remain at the hospital for the next few days.
By the moment he crashed with Cahill, both medical teams rushed to the scene as referee Neil Swarbrick stopped play.
Cahill quickly returned to his feet, completed the game and scored Chelsea’s second goal.
Mason was in hospital by then, having received treatment for around six minutes on the field before departing on a stretcher, while receiving oxygen. David Meyler replaced him.
His injury led to 9 minutes of extra-time in the first half, during which Chelsea’s Diego Costa scored the leading goal, ninety seconds before the end.
A Hull statement read: “The club can confirm that Ryan Mason sustained a skull fracture in our fixture at Chelsea this afternoon.
“He was taken to St Mary’s Hospital where he has undergone surgery. Ryan is in a stable condition and is expected to remain in hospital for the next few days.
“Everyone at the club would like to express their sincere thanks for the excellent and swift care given to Ryan by both the Accident and Emergency department and Neurosurgery Unit at St Mary’s Hospital”.
Immediately after the end of the match, Hull boss Marco Silva said he was hoping the injury was not serious. “Ryan Mason at this moment is staying in the hospital. I don’t know more news about this,” he announced.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte said: “Everyone at Chelsea wants to wish for him the best.
“It was a bad accident with Gary and, I must be honest, after the first half also Gary wasn’t really good. He decided to continue the game.”
Mason joined Hull in August last year after being frustrated by a lack of first-team football at Tottenham, where he came through the ranks while also spending time out on loan at Yeovil, Doncaster, Millwall, Lorient and Swindon.
Mason was capped a number of times at youth level by England, with his only senior appearance coming in a friendly against Italy in March 2015, where he set up Andros Townsend’s late equaliser in a 1-1 draw.
Players from across England and Europe used Twitter to send best wishes to the 25-year-old Mason, while the England team’s account posted a message to support him.