Borussia Dortmund defender Dede has been ruled out for the rest of the year after undergoing knee surgery.

The Brazilian defender must rest until at least January after damaging ligaments in his right knee in his side's 1-1 draw against Werder Bremen last weekend.

It is the third time in a year that the 31-year-old has needed an operation on his knee, although his previous problems were in his left knee.

He tore cruciate knee ligaments in August last year and needed a second operation in February, although he returned to make a handful of appearances before the end of the season.

A broken jaw saw the injury-prone defender miss the start of the current season and he had only just recovered his place in the starting XI before this latest setback.