WHILE the rest of us are enjoying a knees-up this Christmas, unlucky Matt Hewlett will be at home with his knee up.

The midfielder is recovering after spending the weekend in hospital after an operation to repair torn cartilage in his troublesome left knee and has been ordered to rest it.

It is the same knee that forced him to miss four months of last season and the former Bristol City man is convinced his knee must be cursed.

He said: "Fortunately, the damage is not as bad as last year as that was the cruciate ligament. But it's still pretty hard to take.

"You think your injury problems are over and then along comes another one. Maybe I should ask Father Christmas to sort something out for me."

The 26-year-old has been playing through the pain barrier for the past three of four weeks.

He said: "I saw a specialist a few weeks ago but the pain has just got worse.

"The club decided to send me for a scan and when the results came back on Friday, it showed there was a tear.

"I was booked straight into hospital and thankfully the surgeon seems quite happy with the result."

Hewlett said he may have been tempted to play on had the season being nearing its end but he was not prepared to risk playing on with half the campaign still to go.

He said: "I wasn't prepared to keep having pain-killing injections indefinitely.

"If you keep playing, then you might end up creating more damage to the knee which will keep you out that much longer."

As it is, Hewlett could be back in action in four to six weeks.

He said: "I spent long enough injured last year and I don't want to have another long lay-off. I'm aiming to get back as quickly as possible."

Earlier this season Hewlett feared he could be destined for another long spell in Dick Mackey's treatment room after his knee swelled up after the game at Northampton.

Fortunately he recovered quickly from that setback but any hopes of remaining injury-free were clearly premature. Director of football Roy Evans is clearly disappointed to have lost the services of Hewlett for the busy Christmas and New Year period.

He said: "Matty has had a niggle which he hasn't been able to shake off.

"It was touch and go whether he'd play in the last couple of games and we decided it was best for all concerned to get it sorted."

Town's FA Cup progress means the scheduled clash with Oldham on January 5 will have to be rearranged.

A new date for the match at Boundary Park has yet to be announced.