Leonid Slutsky has described Abel Hernandez’s injury as “very serious” with the Hull City striker facing a spell on the sidelines, reports the Hull Daily Mail.

Hernandez was stretchered from the field during last night’s 3-2 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers at the KCOM Stadium, with an Achilles injury.

The 27-year-old had been key to Hull’s strong start to the 2017/18 campaign, scoring a hat-trick in the 4-1 victory against Burton Albion on Saturday.

However, the striker is now a facing a long spell out after his injury last night, which has left Slutsky concerned, the Russian said: “We will understand the situation after scans but it looks very serious.

“It’s his Achilles. We don’t know (how bad it is), it’s fingers crossed. Everything is possible but it looks very serious.

“It’s a very short time after the match and I hope it will not be a long time. We are waiting on the results of the scan.”

Last night’s defeat to Wolves ended Hull’s unbeaten start to the season, leaving Slutsky’s side with four-points from their opening three fixtures in the Championship.

Goals from Michael Dawson and a David Meyler were not enough for Slutsky’s side, with strikes from Ruben Neves, Diogo Jota and Nouha Dicko enough to maintain Wolves’ 100% start to the season.

The Tigers return to action on Saturday, for the first of three games inside a week.

Slutsky’s side travel to Queens Park Rangers on Saturday, before welcoming Bolton Wanderers to the KCOM Stadium the following Friday.

Those two games come either side of the Carabao Cup second-round, which sees Hull face Doncaster Rovers.

The Verdict

Slutsky will be more concerned by Hernandez’s injury than Hull’s performance against Wolves – who look like they could be serious contenders for automatic promotion.

Hernandez has been key to Hull’s strong start to the Championship season, picking up where he left off two-years ago, by looking a real goalscoring threat in the second-tier.

Depending how serious Hernandez’s injury is, Slutsky may be forced back into the transfer market to search for a replacement between now and the end of the summer.

Hull City fans… Let us know your thoughts!