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HULL, England -- Hull City manager Marco Silva has revealed he faces a defensive crisis ahead of Tuesday's EFL Cup semifinal first leg against Manchester United with no centre-backs fit for the trip to Old Trafford. Portuguese coach Silva, surprisingly appointed as successor to the sacked Mike Phelan last week, will go up against fellow countryman Jose Mourinho against a United team that is set to feature Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba and Ander Herrera after they were rested against Reading on Saturday. But Silva is battling to field a back four at Old Trafford, with former Tottenham defender Michael Dawson joining the injury list at the weekend by suffering a shoulder injury in the FA Cup third-round victory at home to Swansea City. Dawson will miss the game with Curtis Davies (hamstring) and Ahmed Elmohamady (African Nations Cup) already ruled out, with long-term absentees Alex Bruce and Moses Odubajo also out. Harry Maguire trained on Monday following a hip injury, but the former Sheffield United player remains doubtful for the United clash. "We had two midfielders at centre-back against Swansea and this is not normal," Silva said. "Dawson will have an examination to see how he is and I hope all is OK, but he is out for tomorrow. "We want to keep the result open for the second-leg and that is our goal for this game, but while this tie is important for us, it also important for United, so it will be very difficult for us." While the immediate focus is on the trip to Old Trafford, Silva admits that adding to his squad is the over-riding priority this month. Oumar Niasse, Everton's £13.5 million Senegalese forward, is reportedly set to arrive on loan, but Silva said he has no desire to lose midfielder Robert Snodgrass -- the subject of a £3m bid from West Ham. "All I want to do is improve my team," Silva said. "I don't want to lose important players and I hope Snodgrass continues with us. He is an important player for us. "We are interested in a lot of players, but I don't want to talk about players from another team. I hope we can sign players this week, though, because my last two training sessions were with 13 to 15 players "We need to do something fast. To be more competitive and improve, we must do something fast."
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