Maidstone defender Alex Finney is facing a lengthy spell out after breaking his jaw in two places.

Finney, 21, suffered the injury in the Stones' 2-2 draw at Dover on Boxing Day and will undergo surgery in the Royal London Hospital today.

United have an agreement with QPR to extend Finney's loan until the end of the season but it's not known how long he'll be out for or what will happen with the deal.

Maidstone defender Alex Finney Picture: Steve Terrell

United boss Jay Saunders had already ruled Finney out of Saturday's game at Aldershot and the New Year's Day return with Dover before discovering the extent of the injury.

He said: "Alex has broken his jaw in two places and is having an operation today.

"He saw a face specialist at the Royal London Hospital and I had a text at 1am to say he was going in for an operation today.

"I've tried getting hold of Smudge (Paul Smith, physio) to see what he thinks about a timescale for recovery because in all my time in football I've never had anyone break their jaw.

"Sometimes you hear of fractures and they can heal on their own but the fact he's having an operation tells you it's obviously severe."