BURNLEY midfielder Chris McCann's season could be over, following an operation to repair a slight knee cartilage tear.

The 22-year-old has been ruled out for four to six weeks, and with only five weeks of the current campaign remaining his comeback might have to be put on hold until next season.

However, manager Brian Laws will wait to see how he recovers before making a decision.

"We are disappointed to lose Chris, but we look forward to him making a full recovery and seeing him back in action, either towards the end of the season or in good time for pre-season," he said.

"Clearly Chris has been frustrated at not being able to recover fully from the knee injury.

"We therefore decided the only course of action was an operation to assess the problem and what was revealed was a slight cartilage tear.

"It is clearly a huge blow to lose Chris, as we had hoped to see him back in action by now.

"But the welfare of the player is uppermost in our thoughts and thankfully the diagnosis is not serious and there is no ligament damage."

It is the second knee injury Dubliner McCann has suffered this season, his first in the Premier League.