Barnsley’s Iain Hume, bandaged and scarred after being elbowed in the head by Sheffield United’s Chris Morgan eight days ago, counts himself lucky to be alive. Speaking from his hospital bed, he said: “I had pleaded with the referee to give me some protection. I could have died.”

The striker was talking publicly for the first time since having emergency surgery for a fractured skull and related internal bleeding. “I feel very angry about what happened to me,” said Hume, who has been moved from the high dependency unit of the Salford Royal Hope Hospital but will not be allowed home for some time. “I feel very, very upset because what I went through was potentially a life-threatening experience.”

Hume said he had repeatedly asked referee Andy D’Urso to be mindful of Morgan’s physical and intimidating tactics, having suffered similar treatment in previous encounters. The Canadian international striker was felled in a 35th-minute incident that forced him to be substituted and earned Morgan the 62nd yellow card of his career.

“I feel disappointed that he did not get a red card,” said Hume, a £1.2m summer signing from Leicester City, who according to the most optimistic prognosis is unlikely to play again this season. “I had complained to the referee earlier about being elbowed.” Hume, 25, went home after the match at Oakwell but continued to feel unwell. “Last Saturday night the signs were that I was suffering from concussion,” he said. “It was only through the passage of time that I deteriorated. Subsequently a brain scan revealed the injuries were dangerous and I became an emergency. Then my immediate thoughts were about my family and what effect this would have on them.

“Having thoughts like that is an horrific experience. All I want to do is get home to my family and start having a normal life. Then I can begin to think about playing again. I can only set short-term goals. I’m not ready to look too far into the future. There are issues that require to be addressed.”

The Football Association are expected to announce soon whether they will take further action against 31-year-old Morgan, who has also been sent off 12 times since making his league debut, ironically for Barnsley, nearly 11 years ago.

Barnsley have told the FA they will be submitting further evidence, believed to be in video form, in relation to the incident. A precedent was set in August 2006 when Ben Thatcher, then of Manchester City and now Ipswich Town, was only cautioned after an incident with former Portsmouth midfielder Pedro Mendes at Eastlands.

Video evidence showed Thatcher had elbowed Mendes, who lost consciousness after being knocked into advertising hoardings and subsequently required oxygen while being treated pitchside. He suffered a seizure in an ambulance on the way to hospital. Thatcher, who issued a written apology to Mendes, was investigated by the FA, banned for eight matches and given a further 15-game ban suspended for two years.

Hume’s family are believed to have denied Morgan permission to visit the forward in hospital. South Yorkshire Police say they have received many complaints from the public since the match, though none so far from Hume, his representatives, Barnsley or the FA.

The club’s appointed solicitors, including Manchester United’s Maurice Watkins, who was approached by Barnsley owner Patrick Cryne, and Hume’s agent Micky Walsh will meet at Oakwell tomorrow to discuss which course to take. “The important thing is not to put too much stress on Iain,” said Walsh, the former Blackpool, Everton, QPR, Porto and Republic of Ireland forward.

“We don’t want to descend into a public slanging match but we will discuss things properly and make our decision on how to proceed when the time is right. Iain will have to be involved but we don’t want to do anything to jeopardise his recovery.”

Barnsley’s manager, Simon Davey, added: “I am still sickened just thinking about what happened. Iain has an 18-inch scar that runs from his forehead in the shape of a horseshoe right around to his ear. He is black and blue, his head is swollen and he is a mess. He is very down and very angry.”

Hume’s parents have flown from their home in Brampton, Ontario, to be at his bedside with his wife, Christine. “My family has been deluged by messages of goodwill from football fans, not just supporters of Barnsley,” said Hume. “This injury has affected a much wider football community.”

Before the 2006 World Cup, the Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, urged referees to “drive out this new devil, the use of the elbow as a weapon in football”, although two serious head injuries in the early 1990s, when the victims were Gary Mabbutt of Tottenham and John Uzzell of Torquay, showed the danger was there all along.