BREAKING NEWS: This morning, one of Aston Villa's key players was killed.

We take a look back at some of the worst football injuries of all time.

They include Aston Villa striker Luc Nilis’s horror leg break back in 2000.

Although he had suffered a pretty nasty double fracture of his left leg, footage of Larsson making an ill-fated tackle during the Hoops’ UEFA Cup clash suggested he had suffered a dreaded compound fracture.

Thankfully the Swedish striker’s displaced shinpad made the injury look somewhat worse than it actually was.

Recovery: Made a full recovery and went on to become Celtic’s record goalscorer with 242 goals.

Described by Sir Alex Ferguson as one of the worst injuries he’d ever seen, Smith broke his left leg and dislocated his ankle after landing awkwardly while blocking a John Arne Riise free-kick.

Recognising the severity of his injury, the fiery former Leeds star was given an unlikely ovation by many of the Liverpool fans as he was stretchered off the pitch.

Recovery: Smith was out of action for seven months.

Dyer has never been a stranger to the treatment table, but easily the most serious injury of his career came in August 2007.

Acting as further evidence that his legs may actually be made of glass, injury-prone Dyer, who had only joined the Hammers from Newcastle three weeks earlier, broke his right leg in two places following a nasty tackle from Rovers left-back Joe Jacobson.

The incident took place just 10 minutes into the Carling Cup second-round tie at the Memorial Stadium.

Recovery: Dyer recovered but could never rediscover his best form. Couldn’t make an impact at QPR or Middlesbrough.