Sheffield Tigers number six Lee Smethills has been ruled out for at least a month after breaking a bone in his back.

X-rays confirmed that the 26-year-old has a fractured vertebrae following a crash at Mildenhall at the weekend.

Tigers co-promoter David Hoggart told BBC Radio Sheffield that the news had come as a blow.

"We had some fears he had internal injuries, but it's a clean break and we expect him to be out for a month."

Meanwhile, the Tigers will hold a two minutes silence ahead of Wednesday's home meeting with Redcar as a mark of respect to long-time supporter and sponsor Darren Boocock who, along with his wife Sharon, were killed in a motorbike accident last week.

The tapes go up at Owlerton at 1945 BST.