Burton Albion manager Nigel Clough has called Liam Boyce's serious knee injury a "devastating blow" after the striker was ruled out for potentially the entirety of the season following a scan on Monday night.

Boyce - Albion's record-signing after his move from Ross County for around £500,000 in June - ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee while trying to control a lofted ball in Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Shrewsbury Town.

That leaves the Brewers without their first-choice striker for the majority of the campaign, an unthinkable scenario before that Shrewsbury game.

The Brewers bounced back from that Shrewsbury loss and the Boyce news with a hard-fought 2-1 win over 2015/16 Premier League champions Leicester City at the Pirelli Stadium on Tuesday night.

Goals from Lucas Akins and summer signing Hope Akpan sent Burton on their way to victory in the final pre-season match before the Championship curtain-raiser on Saturday against Cardiff City at the Pirelli.

But Albion boss Clough was understandably in little mood for celebration when he offered his first take on the Boyce news.

"It won't make up for that at the moment, " said Clough.

"It is devastating for everybody, not least Liam himself - he's the person we feel for the most.

Lucas Akins congratulates Hope Akpan on scoring against Leicester City

"He made the move and then to be ruled out for the season is a devastating blow for him, and for us - but mainly for him.

"We feared the worst on Saturday. We've seen a few of them over the years.

"It's the innocuous ones that do the most damage unfortunately - no contact at all.

Liam Boyce picked up a serious-looking knee injury against Shrewsbury Town

"He’s just put his foot down and it's incredibly unfortunate.

"We've been thinking since Saturday (about potential new strikers) and we've made calls and enquiries so we'll certainly need to add a striker as well as a list of other players before the window closes."