ROBBIE Savage's season was left in tatters after he suffered a broken leg during Blackburn Rovers' 2-1 defeat at Watford last night.

The Welsh international collapsed in agony following an X-certificate challenge by Watford's Al Bangura in the 54th minute of a bruising game at Vicarage Road.

After lengthy treatment, the 32-year-old left the pitch on a stretcher, and manager Mark Hughes later confirmed the Rovers skipper had suffered a broken leg.

"We've got news from the hospital that it's a break," said the Rovers chief.

"As for how severe it is, we don't know as yet.

"He'll fly back to Manchester with the team and then he'll go straight to hospital from there."

Savage became the third Blackburn player in less than a fortnight to suffer a serious injury, after Steven Reid (ruptured cruciate knee ligament) and Andre Ooijer (broken leg).

However, Hughes stopped short of condemning Bangura for his part in the incident - which Dermot Gallagher didn't deem worthy of a free kick - at least until he gets the opportunity to see it again.

"I don't want to dwell too much on it because I can't really question whether the tackle was a good one or a bad one. I need to see it again first," said the Rovers chief.

"At the time, I felt it was just two guys going in for a challenge in midfield in a wholehearted way.

"Obviously, if I watch it again and feel differently then I'll make a further comment.

"But, at the moment, I can't."

Losing Savage is another massive blow for Hughes, who has seen his squad decimated by a succession of serious injuries this term.

"It's been a bad couple of weeks. In the space of 10 to 14 days we've lost three players again to long-term injuries, just as we felt we were getting in decent shape and welcoming a number of players back," said a disconsolate Hughes.

"It's been hard to take because we need as many good players available as possible to win Premier League games."

With Reid and Savage now on the long-term injured list, Hughes may have to beef up his midfield options before the transfer window shuts at the end of the month.

"We'll have to wait and see. We've got a number of players coming back and we've also made purchases that we'll look to introduce.

"The likes of David Dunn still need more training, and Stephen Warnock hasn't had a great deal of football of late, so we need to be careful we don't rush these guys back too soon."

As for the overall performance, Hughes added: "Before this evening, we'd been on a great run and we were excellent again at the weekend.

"I just think this was maybe one game too far.

"But we'll pick ourselves up and go again at the weekend against Luton (in the FA Cup)."