Martin Rowlands has been ruled out for the remainder of the 2008/09 campaign, after scans revealed he suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury during Saturday's 2-0 victory against Derby County.

The Rangers skipper was forced from the fray in the 11th minute at Pride Park after falling awkwardly following an innocuous-looking challenge by Miles Addison.

Rowlands left the field on a stretcher and underwent scans on his right knee on Monday morning.

Head Physio, Paul Hunter, confirmed the news to www.qpr.co.uk on Monday evening, commenting: "Unfortunately, our worst fears have been confirmed.

"Martin has seen a specialist today (Monday) and he will be back in hospital for surgery on Wednesday afternoon.

"Obviously, we are all desperately disappointed, but being the positive character and strong man that he is, we are confident Martin will bounce back from this setback and approach his rehabilitation in a positive manner."

R's boss Paulo Sousa added: "Martin is our captain and our leader - he epitomises everything we are about.

"We have lost him as a player, but we will not lose him as a personality, because he is a huge character around the Club and I will continue to involve him as much as possible.

"He is a player we all hold in extremely high regard and we will be doing everything we can to get him back to full fitness as soon as possible."