Mauricio Pochettino and his staff have visited former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Ryan Mason in hospital this afternoon as he continues to recover from his fractured skull.

Mason, who Spurs sold to Hull City last summer, was injured playing against Chelsea last Sunday and has been at St Mary’s Paddington hospital in west London since then. Pochettino would have visited Mason sooner but for the fact that Tottenham were training in Barcelona for the first half of this week, only arriving back in London late on Wednesday evening.

Pochettino along with assistant Jesus Perez and academy manager John McDermott drove down to St Mary’s hospital on Thursday afternoon following training.

“We were in Barcelona on Sunday watching the game and saw live the situation,” Pochettino said at his press conference today. “We have kept in touch with his family, his fiancee and it was a difficult moment. We were very worried about what happened. Like all of the people that know him, it was hard and was difficult to see.”

Mason was an important part of Pochettino’s team for his first two seasons at Spurs before his departure to Hull City last year. The Spurs squad sent him a video message from Barcelona and Pochettino said that he “loves” the 25-year-old midfielder.

“He is a special player for us, and for me personally,” Pochettino said. “He grew up here at Tottenham, he is a person that we love. He is a player who is strong in his mind, his mentality and his personality. He has suffered a lot of injuries in the past, and I’m sure he can recover as soon as possible.”

Pochettino also revealed that Spurs are expecting Erik Lamela to return to the club on Friday after spending most of January in Rome working to recover from a hip injury. Lamela has not played for Spurs for three months following a combination of injuries and personal problems.