BLACKBURN Rovers defender Andre Ooijer has ruled out a return to action this season.

The Dutch international defender broke his fibula and suffered ankle ligament damage after a freak collision with Manchester City's Bernardo Corradi in the middle of January.

At that time he was told by specialists that it would be four or five months before he was back in action.

And with just one-and-a-half months to go in his rehabilitation, the 32-year-old cast an optimistic eye over a dream return in this year's FA Cup, although he admitted, the start of next season was a more realistic target.

He said: "You never know. We might make it to the cup final. We all want to be there and that could put some injection into it (rehab).

"But I don't think I'm going to get anything out of this season.

"You always hope so because it was four months and I'm on two-and-a-half now and there's one month to go until the end of the season.

"If everything goes well, maybe I can train at the end of the season. But I don't think so.

"My goal is the start of next season."