Ritchie De Laet: Aston Villa defender ruled out after sustaining serious knee injury

Ritchie De Laet has made three appearances for Aston Villa

Aston Villa defender Ritchie De Laet is facing a lengthy spell out of action after picking up a serious knee injury, according to boss Roberto Di Matteo.

De Laet, 27, who signed from Leicester City in August, went off in the 67th minute of Villa's 1-1 draw against Brentford on Wednesday.

"We will have to make more assessments with him, but it looks right now like he will need surgery," Di Matteo said.

"We need to see what damage he has on the knee. He will be out for a while."

Ritchie De Laet tweeted that he will miss the rest of the season