Vaz Te to miss rest of campaign

Vaz Te made his debut for the club as a teenager in 2004

Bolton striker Ricardo Vaz Te has been ruled out for the season after undergoing surgery on his right knee.

The Portuguese Under-21 international flew to America to have the operation in the hope of finding a solution to his long-standing cartilage problem.

The club said they were expecting the 22-year-old to be back in time for pre-season training next summer.

Vaz Te suffered the injury on the opening day of last season and has only featured in three games since.

He has just two substitute appearances this season, the last in Bolton's 2-0 Premier League defeat at Manchester United on 27 September.

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Vaz Te joined the club from Portuguese side Farense before making his first-team debut as an 18-year-old in January 2004.

He spent a month at Hull towards the end of the 2006-07 season and has gone on to make 78 appearances for the Trotters, although the majority have come as a substitute.

The player was recently linked with a loan move to Barnsley but will now spend the rest of the season attempting to get back to full fitness.