KYLE Dempsey will find out soon whether his season is over after suffering a setback in his recovery from a knee injury.

The midfielder was in late-stage recovery from a problem which has ruled him out of action since the 2-0 win against Birmingham City in October.

Dempsey will see a specialist this week to see whether he will be able to have a minor operation – which would mean he is unavailable for up to two months – or whether major surgery is required.

Speaking ahead of the New Year’s Day game against Mansfield, Ian Evatt confirmed: “We have had a set-back with Kyle, he has re-hurt that lateral meniscus, we have had a scan, and it looks like there is another tear in there. We are seeking a surgical opinion but it isn’t good news.

“There are two options – if it is more of a shaving and repair we are probably looking at eight weeks but if it is a stitched up or anything more significant, it is probably the end of the season for him. It’s not ideal, it is really bad news.

“Before players come back in for training there are certain boxes that have to be ticked and in one of those boxes something really innocuous injured him, which was awful news. We are here to support him and we’ll get him the best treatment we can to get him back on the grass.”

Wanderers will be bringing Aaron Morley back for Saturday’s game at Exeter City – but the 24-year-old will be allowed to turn out for Wycombe against Exeter tomorrow.

Dempsey’s injury, if found to be the worst-case scenario, could mean that Bolton de-register him as a player for the second half of the season and are able to sign a replacement.

The Cumbrian has had an unfortunate run of injuries in his Bolton career to date but Evatt says he will be given all the support he needs.

“Sometimes that happens in football,” he said. “As we said on Sunday it’s like a rollercoaster, and you are either riding high or, like at the moment, it feels like you are on one of the loop-the-loops.

“It has been challenging for him personally, challenging for us collectively in terms of injuries, but there are things that we can’t control. We have to adapt and overcome.

“We will soon be in the middle of a window, which will give us a chance to replace him. I suppose if ever there was a right time for something like this to happen it would probably be now.”

Eoin Toal may not feature against Mansfield, having made a return against Lincoln, and Josh Sheehan will be back in training next week.

Evatt confirmed: “Eoin we need to monitor and to be careful with, he did tremendously well in the circumstances to give us 60 minutes but we will need to manage his minutes.”