'Pool blow as Cisse out for rest of season

LIVERPOOL striker Djibril Cisse will not play again this season after breaking his leg against Blackburn in what looked an innocuous tangle with Jay McEveley on Saturday.

The 23-year-old France striker was carried off on a stretcher in the 2-2 draw at Ewood Park and yesterday underwent an operation.

Officials at Anfield said surgery on the £14m signing was "successful" but confirmed Cisse will miss the rest of the campaign.

Cisse will stay in hospital for another five or six days before beginning a programme of rehabilitation with the Liverpool medical staff. Cisse's leg-break horror has left Rafael Benitez facing a striker crisis ahead of Wednesday night's crucial Champions League showdown with Deportivo La Coruna.

And while the problem can be addressed on a long-term basis when the transfer window opens in January Real Madrid's Fernando Morientes and Miguel Mista, who played under Benitez at both Tenerife and Valencia, have already been mentioned as potential targets the immediate future looks bleak.

The only forwards on Liverpool's books are the erratic Milan Baros, Neil Mellor, who has yet to prove he is up to the level demanded at Anfield, and 20-year-old Frenchman Florent Sinama-Pongolle, who may not be fit for the midweek trip to Spain.

Sinama-Pongolle missed out after suffering heavy bruising to his shin and calf in the midweek Carling Cup win at Millwall and if he has not recovered, Benitez will be forced to play Baros as a lone front man in the Riazor Stadium, with Luis Garcia operating just behind.

Given Liverpool need a victory to leapfrog back into the top two slots in Group A, it is not the position Benitez would have wanted to find himself in, although at the moment the Reds are concentrating their efforts on making sure Cisse is given the best help in his recovery programme.

"We were all sick when we heard what had happened," admitted Reds defender Jamie Carragher.

"We can only extend our best wishes to Djibril and hope he recovers quickly."

The incident completely overshadowed an entertaining game but did little to enhance Liverpool's reputation as credible title challengers. Having gone in front through John Arne Riise's excellent finish inside seven minutes, the visitors failed to maintain their momentum.

Bothroyd levelled with his first Rovers goal after being set up by Brett Emerton before a period of woeful Reds' defending ended with Sami Hyypia rolling the ball to Emerton, who gleefully put the hosts ahead in first-half stoppage time.

Baros took advantage of a major blunder by McEveley, who otherwise impressed on his first Premiership appearance for 18 months, to bring Liverpool back on terms but though the visitors pushed forward looking for a winner, it was actually Blackburn who lookd more like getting it.