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Jonny Wilkinson has undergone a second operation on his dislocated knee-cap © Getty Images

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Players/Officials Jonny Wilkinson

Teams England | Newcastle

Newcastle Falcons have confirmed that England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson has undergone a second operation on his injured knee. Wilkinson dislocated his knee-cap whilst playing for the Falcons against Gloucester in early October.

Rumours surfaced over the weekend that Wilkinson would require further surgery, a rumour that has been confirmed by the club's Director of Rugby Steve Bates, although he stressed that the surgery was a planned development.

"As was always the plan, the back-up to the original operation was to have an arthroscopy, which took place in the north-east a couple of weeks ago," said Bates. "That was to assess whether the initial operation had been a success.

"The surgeon who did that original operation is saying that everything looks okay to proceed on to the next stage of his rehabilitation, which will involve making sure that strengthening, flexibility and all those sorts of issues are dealt with.

"That has a timescale all of its own, depending on how he responds, but at least the initial hurdle seems to have been overcome. There was always going to be a little doubt about whether the original operation had been a success, as with all operations.

"Now that we are hopefully past that stage, it's just a case of continually monitoring how he progresses, rather than now giving a timescale of when he will be back playing."

Wilkinson will almost certainly miss England's 2009 Six Nations tilt, and has seen his international berth taken by Danny Cipriani and Toby Flood. His last international appearance was against Ireland in the 2008 tournament .

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