West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Ben Foster has been ruled out for six months with a cruciate knee injury.

The 31-year-old England international underwent reconstruction surgery on his anterior cruciate ligaments on Friday after the damage was discovered during an exploratory operation.

Foster, who has won eight caps for England and was a member of Roy Hodgson's World Cup squad in Brazil last summer after reversing his decision to retire from international football, will be sidelined until the autumn.

"Ben is in good spirits despite this obvious disappointment to him - he's already talking about his 'rehab' and wanting to get started on it immediately," Albion's director of performance Dr Mark Gillet told the official club website.

"But he has had a cruciate reconstruction of his left knee following the injury against Stoke and he will be out for six months."