LONDON -- Antonio Conte insisted that he has no concerns over Gary Cahill's frame of mind following the forced retirement of Ryan Mason.
Mason announced his retirement from professional football at the age of 26 on Tuesday following the advice of medical professionals, after suffering a fractured skull in an aerial collision with Cahill during a Premier League match between Chelsea and Hull City in January 2017.
Cahill said he was "devastated" by the news in a Twitter post on Tuesday, but Conte has not spoken to his captain about it and will not hesitate to pick him in the Chelsea defence when Hull return to Stamford Bridge for an FA Cup fifth round tie on Friday.
"I must be honest, I didn't speak with him," Conte said. "I think that, if I have to go to speak with him, it means there is a problem. I don't see a problem. Football is this. Sometimes it can happen, this type of situation. The most important thing is there is not the will to do this [injury].
"We are very sad for this news, but football is this. You have to try and accept also these bad situations. They can happen.
"I was a player and I understand it. My teammate broke my leg when I was 16 [at Lecce], and risked my whole career. But it was an unlucky situation. Gary is a fantastic guy, a fantastic person. He must be okay because it's not his fault."
Mason received treatment on the Stamford Bridge pitch for eight minutes and was given oxygen as he was stretchered off before undergoing surgery at St Mary's Hospital in London, where he stayed for a week and was visited by Cahill.
The Tottenham academy graduate, who joined Hull for a club-record fee of £13m in August 2016, returned to training in May and was determined to resume his career until earlier this month, when the results of a CT scan revealed the injury's effects were worse than previously realised.
Chelsea plan to invite Mason -- whose parents are season ticket-holders at Stamford Bridge and were watching from the stands when the incident occurred -- to a match as a guest of the club when he feels ready to attend.
Cahill is likely to start for Chelsea against Hull on Friday, with Conte set to rotate ahead of the visit of Barcelona to Stamford Bridge in the Champions League round of 16 on Tuesday.
Cup competitions now represent the only hope of salvaging a frustrating season with a trophy for Chelsea, as well as an opportunity for Conte to overcome a personal hurdle; he has never won a major cup trophy in his coaching career.
"In the cup competitions the team that wins does not always deserve to have won it," Conte said when asked about his cup record. "In the league, usually, the team who deserved it over the season wins it. They showed at every moment, with regularity, that they are the best.
"In cup competitions there are different factors. It can happen that you face a team in a difficult moment and you beat them, or the opposite can happen. To win a cup is different. You must have regularity [consistency] to win the league. In the cup, if you make a mistake, you're out."