YORK City Knights have been dealt a major blow with the news that Matt Blaymire has been ruled out until next season.

The young winger cum full-back has suffered a serious recurrence of a knee injury and a specialist has said he needs to undergo full knee reconstruction.

Blaymire scored two tries at the end of Sunday's 40-2 thrashing of Swinton Lions at Huntington Stadium and seemed to come through okay. But the knee apparently flared up some time after the match and specialists have now confirmed there is extensive damage.

The bad news comes just four days before Blaymire's 21st birthday and, although the club are very optimistic he will make a full recovery, he is not expected to return to full training until November at the earliest. An operation has been booked for later this month.

Knights chief executive Steve Ferres said it was a massive blow for both club and the player. "I'm not sure of the full extent of the damage but we've been told he needs a full reconstruction," Ferres told the Evening Press.

"We won't know for sure how long he will be out for until after the operation but we've been told we might be looking at November. There is every likelihood he will be able to play again and we're optimistic we will get him back next season, but it's a case of getting him right."

Blaymire, who signed from Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, missed the start of the season after undergoing knee surgery in the autumn. He then broke a hand in training which kept him on the sidelines for a further six weeks and he thus missed the entire Arriva Trains Cup campaign.

He made his debut off the bench in the first National League fixture, the loss to Gateshead on Good Friday, scored his first try in the defeat at Sheffield three days later and has featured in all four games since.

"It seems it's the old injury that has not cleared up," added Ferres.

"The knee flared up and we've had to take action on it, there was nothing else we could do."

Updated: 11:03 Saturday, June 07, 2003