Boateng on the road to recovery as scan shows no damage

The veteran Dutchman was carried off on a stretcher and taken straight to hospital after being struck in the face by Stoke forward Tuncay Sanli's overhead kick.

He was kept in hospital overnight for observation amid fears he had suffered a fractured jaw, but has returned home after a series of scans and X-rays came back clear.

Boateng was knocked unconscious in the incident, which came after Tigers manager Iain Dowie had already made his three substitutions and left City to play the final 15 minutes of normal time and the resulting eight minutes of stoppage time with 10 men.

Dowie said afterwards: "There was a lot of blood in his airway and we had to suction that out as he was struggling to breathe.

"By the time he left he was a lot more comfortable. It was a fantastic challenge and that is the type of character he is.

"It was a hell of a whack but there was no malice from Tuncay as I think he was shocked, too."

Boateng, 34, has been in inspired form in the latter half of the season, establishing himself as the Tigers' captain in the absence of the injured Anthony Gardner, and an extended absence would have represented a major blow to Dowie's plans.

A statement from Hull read: "Due to the nature of the injury, the midfielder will continue to be monitored daily and will be seen by specialists again in the next 48 hours.

"Boateng is now back at home with his family."

Stoke boss Tony Pulis also absolved Tuncay of any blame.

"It was unfortunate. I don't think 'Tunny' knew the lad was behind him so you can't apportion any blame," he said.

"It was disappointing and you never want to see that."

Striker Ricardo Fuller scored for the second successive match when he capitalised on a sixth-minute error by Paul McShane to clip a shot past Boaz Myhill.

But when the injured Jamaica international did not reappear for the second half, there was a significant swing as Hull gained enough control to have scored an equaliser.

However, they were hampered after Boateng's injury and the extra space was exploited by Liam Lawrence in the 90th minute when Matt Etherington picked out his team-mate on the right of the penalty area and he fired past Myhill and into the far corner of the net.

Dowie was critical of his players' defending for the opening goal but praised their attitude in their second-half performance.