Ritchie Hanlon could be ruled out for a month following his knee operation.

The 27-year-old midfielder underwent an arthroscopy to his knee on Monday to trim a tear in his cartilage and to clean the joint, which had been troubling him for some time.

Although it had been hoped to nurse him to the end of the season, Hanlon limped off near the end of the home win against Stevenage on Boxing Day, missed the next two games, and had to be withdrawn before half-time in the game against Forest Green.

Physio Greg Reid told cambridgeunited.com, "Following instructions from the surgeon, Mr Dennis Edwards, Ritchie will follow a restricted rehab programme for the next two weeks.

"Dennis will then review him and at that stage a decision will be made as to what speed his rehab will progress at."

Rob Newman is already resigned to being unable to call upon Hanlon for at least a month and may look for a loan signing to add more bite to the midfield in his absence.

"He'll be in rehab for a couple of weeks and I'm not expecting him back for four to five weeks all told," said the manager.

"We have cover in midfield but we miss his stature in there because although the others are technically good they're quite lightweight in that regard, so although it's not a priority at the moment, if someone suitable comes up we'll try to do something."

Newman will take a squad to Southend for a friendly on Wednesday to give some of the players a much-needed game and to look at some trialists, and we will bring you more details in the morning.

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[Hanlon Op Confirmed] [Hanlon and Howie on the Table]

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