The R's worst fears have been confirmed with the news that skipper Martin Rowlands has been ruled out for the rest of the season with an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury.

The 30 year-old sustained the injury whilst on international duty with the Republic of Ireland on Wednesday night and is now set for a prolonged spell on the sidelines.

Head Physio, Paul Hunter, told www.qpr.co.uk: "Martin's been to see the specialist and the results of the scan unfortunately revealed that he's sustained another Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury.

"He's penciled in for an operation on Monday."

Rowlands suffered a carbon copy injury against Derby County in mid-January which ruled him out for the latter stages of the 2008/09 campaign, but Hunter is confident the midfielder will return fitter and stronger than ever next season.

"Martin's a fighter," he told www.qpr.co.uk.

"I've no doubts he'll come back from this.

"He knows what it takes after going through it last season - his attitude was spot on then and I'm sure it will be the same when his rehabilitation begins in the coming months."