Mortimer to face surgery

CONOR MORTIMER’S 2011 inter-county season is all but written off after being told he must undergo surgery on his troublesome left knee, which will rule him out a minimum of five months.

As revealed by the Irish Examiner earlier this month, the Mayo forward had been contemplating going under the knife after tearing his medial ligament in his knee while training for UUJ before Christmas.

Mortimer has had no cruciate in the joint for the last seven years but has been told by surgeon Ray Moran he has no choice but to undergo surgery.

The Shrule-Glencorrib man will be operated on in Moran’s Santry Clinic on Friday week. “It has to be done for my career,” said Mortimer. “If I don’t get it sorted, I’m risking permanent damage to my knee. Getting surgery will hopefully prolong my football for a good few years so it’s worth it.

“I can’t afford to go on another year without any cruciate there. I’d be running the risk of permanently damaging the knee.”

Similar to Armagh’s Kieran McGeeney and Kildare’s Dermot Earley, Mortimer had managed to endure umpteen seasons without cruciate in his knee by building up muscle around it.

Mortimer still holds out hope of lining out for Mayo if they are still involved come the business end of the championship.

“All going well I could be back for late July or August,” said Mortimer. “It’s a short-term pain for a long term gain.”