We cannot be one-man team says Hull City chairman Pearson

The midfielder has been out of action since limping out of the 3-0 defeat at Aston Villa on December 5 with an injured knee.

Bullard's recovery has been progressing well and it is hoped he could be back in time to face Wolverhampton Wanderers in a crucial relegation six-pointer at the KC Stadium on January 30.

Pearson, who refuses to put an exact timescale on the midfielder's return, admits Bullard was a key figure in Hull's upturn in form during November when eight points were claimed from a possible 12.

However, the Hull chairman is also at pains to stress that if the club are to get out of trouble near the foot of the Premier League table then it will have to be a team effort and not just down to one player.

He said: "The situation with Jimmy is he will come back when he is ready to play. There is no timescale set on that.

"What we cannot allow ourselves to do is focus too much on Jimmy's return, we have to learn to win without him.

"We have done it already this season and people should not lose sight of that.

"There are many important games between now and the end of the season and everyone has

a big part to play," added Pearson.

Hull, who last night were close to agreeing a deal to loan out-of-favour striker Daniel Cousin to Queens Park Rangers, are still waiting to learn the date of their Premier League trip to Manchester United, which was due to take place on Tuesday, January 26.

That date now clashes with the rearranged Carling Cup semi-final second leg between United and Manchester City at Old Trafford.

One possible solution is to rearrange the league fixture for one of the weekends set aside for FA Cup action, both Hull and Sir Alex Ferguson's men having been knocked out of the competition, but as yet no new date has been set.

Meanwhile, USA international Freddy Adu has ended any speculation of a possible move to Hull by agreeing a loan switch to Greek club Aris Salonika.

The 20-year-old plays for Benfica but has been out on loan with fellow Portuguese club Belenenses for most of the season.

Adu revealed via the social networking site Twitter that he had offers from Hull and Aris for the second half of the 2009-10 campaign.

However, it emerged last night that the American had signed a long-term 18-month switch to the Greek outfit.

Adu was once heralded as a potential superstar after making his MLS debut at the age of just 14 and following that by stepping up to the national side just two years later.

He subsequently had a trial with Manchester United but after failing to impress the Old Trafford coaching staff he moved on to Benfica.