James Brown is set to be out for a minimum of twelve weeks after tests on his injured knee revealed a lateral cartilage tear.

The young star suffered swelling to the knee following Pools' defeat to Southampton last Tuesday and when this didn't subside, he was sent for a scan.

The results will be a big blow to Brown and to Chris Turner who is already without the services of Denis Behan who has an ankle injury.

Brown will now undergo surgery to repair the damage on Wednesday 2^nd December before beginning his recovery and rehabilitation.

"This is another piece of bad news for us and we are all distraught for James because you would have thought he'd suffered enough with injury," Chris Turner told hartlepoolunited.co.uk.

"He is in the best possible hands now and we will ensure he is looked after during his recovery and once again we will look to other players to prove their worth.

"These things happen in football and unfortunately you just have to get on with it."

Brown had hoped to consign his bad luck on the injury front to history after suffering two cruciate ligament ruptures in his four years as a professional.