Devastated Workington Town winger Chris Murphy faces up to nine months on the sidelines after aggravating an old injury.

Murphy’s season has come to a bitter end after he limped off the field in the Summer Bash defeat at the hands of Whitehaven.

Now he has he had the worst news confirmed to him by doctors – that he will need a fourth operation on his troublesome ankle.

“I saw the specialist last week for a scan which unfortunately brought the news that I was expecting,” said Murphy.

“I knew after the game that it was bad as I have done it previously.

“Then when I saw the surgeon on Thursday he confirmed that I would need another operation on it.”

The pill was a bitter one to swallow for the 26-year-old who had just made his return as a player with Workington this season.

He added: “I have damaged the same ankle as I have before and I’ve already had three operations on it.

“I needed wires in it to make it stable and that is what I have aggravated.

“So this time I need a full reconstruction of the ankle, which means my season is over.

“I am just really gutted.”

Murphy admitted it was a freak accident in a tackle that injured the ankle and then he had to sit on the sidelines for the remainder of the game at Bloomfield Road.

“I was just sat on the side as I couldn’t put any weight on it and we performed pretty poorly,” he said.

“I didn’t sleep for a couple of days because I was so gutted over the whole thing.”

But he said this would not be the last Town fans see of him, as he is still hoping to make a return at the end of his nine month spell.

And he is also continuing in his role as a conditioner for the club.

He added: “They said it was possible to play again.

“This is not necessarily the end, I just have to rehab correctly and take it from there.

“It will be six to nine months before I am fully fit again.

“It all depends on how the operation goes and then see how it is healing a few weeks later.

“So I have time to take it all on board and look at my options but I am just taking each day as it comes.”

Bottom-of-the-table Workington face another tough challenge at home on Sunday when the visitors are Bradford Bulls.