YORK City Knights favourite Mark Cain still does not know if he will be able to play again as he awaits yet more surgery on his damaged knee.

The 30-year-old suffered major ligament damage back in February but surgery so far has not fixed the problem and he is set for yet another scan this week.

He admits to being demoralised by the situation and, given his age, the former York Wasps, Hull KR and Dewsbury utility ace understands time is not on his side.

"It's getting to a late stage in my career," he said. "I'm a bit demoralised to be honest. We will have to see how it goes.

"I'm currently waiting for a knee reconstruction. The surgery I had did not work and I'm waiting to go for a scan."

York-based Cain, who was the first player to publicly sign for the Knights back in 2002, is used to battling back from long-term lay-offs having endured his fair share of injuries down the years, not least the shoulder reconstruction he needed in 2005 which ruled him out for ten months.

He suffered his current injury just minutes after entering the fray as a substitute in his first competitive game back, the opening match of the 2006 season at home to Hull KR. He snapped a posterior cruciate ligament and damaged the cartilage in an innocuous-looking challenge. And it could prove to be one injury too far.

He explained: "There's a big hole in the cartilage and they weren't able to repair the knee because there's too much movement in there.

"It's quite bad at the moment. It seemed to get better a little bit but then it totally deteriorated. I'm walking around like I've got a wooden leg."

He added: "I just want to get my knee sorted before I think about playing. It will depend on how fit I can get. It's a pretty similar scenario to when I had a shoulder reconstruction. I can't really do anything else."