Hume recovering from fractured skull

Updated 09.51 Tue Nov 11 2008

Keywords: simon davey, iain hume, sheffield united, barnsley, championship, football, sport

Barnsley striker Iain Hume has been moved out of a high dependency hospital unit as he recovers from a fractured skull.

Hume needed surgery after he was injured in a challenge with Sheffield United defender Chris Morgan during the Championship match at Oakwell on Saturday.

"He is very down and very angry" - Simon Davey

Barnsley manager Simon Davey said: "I went to see Iain yesterday evening and he is conscious although he has not slept since the incident and he is not the most talkative.

"He is out of the high dependency unit now and they have moved him onto a hospital ward, which is good news, although he has tubes sticking out of his head.

"The operation went well but he is very down and very angry. He has a scar that runs from his forehead in the shape of a horseshoe right round to his ear.

"He is black and blue, his head is swollen and he is a mess."

Davey has complained that referee Andy D'Urso allowed players to use their elbows in challenges without punishment.

He said: "Iain received no protection whatsoever from the referee on Saturday despite him telling Andy D'Urso about repeated use of the elbow and it sickens me just thinking about it. He could have died.

"Both my assistant Ryan Kidd and I expressed our concerns at the treatment Iain had received through elbow challenges at half-time, but the referee made light of the situation and thought we were making too much of an issue that he had dealt with by showing only a yellow card.

"Iain is now in hospital with a fractured skull because of that challenge that seemingly warranted only a yellow card from Andy D'Urso."