Derby County's newest signing George Thorne sidelined for nine months

Derby County's newest summer signing George Thorne is out for nine months after injuring his cruciate knee ligaments in a friendly against Zenit St Petersburg last Tuesday.

This isn't the first time that the former West Brom midfielder has had a serious knee injury, after he faced eight months out with ruptured anterior cruciate ligaments in 2013 on only his fourth league start for the Baggies.

Rams boss Steve McClaren said: "It's a huge disappointment. We wish him a speedy recovery."

The 21-year-old only signed for the Championship team last week for an undisclosed fee and could be out until March next year.