Blackburn Rovers defender Ryan Nelsen will miss the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery.
New Zealand international Nelsen has been troubled by the injury throughout the season and manager Steve Kean has now confirmed the 33-year-old will miss the final six games of the campaign as Rovers fight for Premier League survival.
Kean told the Ewood Park club's official website: “Ryan had an operation on his knee and he is out for the rest of the season, unfortunately.
“If the surgeon had gone in and looked at his knee in January he'd have probably done the same operation.
“So with good medical back-up we've managed to get him on the pitch more times than we thought we would have got.
“The prognosis is that he'll be back some time in August, he just has to rest up for a month and do the rehab from there.
“Fortunately for us we lose Ryan at a time when Phil Jones is back fully fit. He's slotted back in there and looked like he'd never been away from central defence so that is fantastic for us, but it is unfortunate that we lose Nelly.”