LIVERPOOL striker Djibril Cisse ignored the blinding pain of a broken leg to brighten up an 11-year-old fan's stay in hospital.

The French star signed the right boot he was wearing when he suffered his horrific injury and gave it to Blackburn schoolgirl Zoe Owen.

Zoe, of Malham Gardens, Audley, had been taken to Blackburn Royal Infirmary after breaking her wrist in a fall while playing.

Cisse was taken to the same hospital when his left leg snapped at the shin during Liverpool's 2-2 draw with Rovers at Ewood Park on Saturday.

The striker, bought by the club for £14million in the summer, was treated on the pitch for five minutes, given oxygen and had his legs strapped before he was rushed to casualty.

When he was admitted, Zoe was in agony with her wrist and could not be calmed down by nurses.

But when they found out she was a Liverpool fan they approached Cisse and asked for his autograph to cheer her up.

And to their surprise, the player - now ruled out for the rest of the season - put aside his own troubles to sign his footwear.

His left boot was taken off when his physio and St John Ambulance staff tried to ease his pain at Ewood Park.

Zoe, a pupil at St Mary and St Joseph's Primary, Audley, said: "I couldn't believe it. It really calmed me down. Now Michael Owen has left, Cisse is my favourite player.

"I am going to put it in my bedroom - I won't let my mum sell it!"

Her mum, Vickie, had jokingly offered to put the boot up for sale on Ebay to see what it would fetch but added: "It is on the fish tank at the moment in the living room.

"We're going to get a stand for it so it can go in her bedroom.

"She was very upset in the hospital and we couldn't believe it when the nurses came back with his boot. It cheered her up no end.

"When we watched the highlights of the game later we saw him break his leg and thought 'yuck'. It was great of him to give Zoe his boot when he must have been in so much pain."

Zoe, who said she had become a Liverpool fan through her friends, will be off school for a week while she recovers from her injury.