The San Diego-born winger continues to make good progress in his recovery from an ACL injury he picked up in the early weeks of last season

Hull City head coach Liam Rosenior admits he’s reluctant to put any pressure on young striker Vaughn Covil as the American forward works his way back to fitness after suffering an ACL injury last season.

Covil started the season firmly in Shota Arveladze’s first team plans after arriving last summer and caught the eye before picking up his major knee injury in a game against Coventry City in August.

Though he’s recovered and is now back playing for the Under-21s including bagging a goal in the recent thrashing of AFC Bournemouth, and had been linked with a transfer window move to Irish side Shelbourne, but as he continues his recovery, the Tigers boss says he will not put any pressure on the 20-year-old to get back into the first-team fold.

“He’s done really well. He spent most of pre-season with us,” the City boss told Hull Live when asked for an update on his progress ahead of his call-up to the USMNT’s squad for the Pan American Games later this month. “It’s really hard for Vaughn because the first two weeks of his pre-season they were monitored so he couldn’t do everything. It was really hard for him to make an impression in terms of me selecting him for this season.

“He’s still a really young player and I know he just needs games, exposure to games and he needs to have consistency in his schedule. At the moment, he’s working with the Under-21s. He’s been out a very long time and I don’t want to put too much pressure on him.