WANDERERS hope another knee operation will help Max Clayton get to the bottom of his injury problems.

The young striker has seen his time at the Macron wrecked by injuries but returned in good form during pre-season under Phil Parkinson.

Clayton had been rested in recent weeks after complaining of swelling in his knee and has yet to feature in League One.

And despite assurances last week from doctors that there were no long-term concerns, the 22-year-old has now taken the decision to go under the knife again next Friday for an exploratory operation.

“We took Max to see the specialist who operated on his knee and he was pleased, even though there was a bit of swelling,” Parkinson explained. “He scanned it, couldn’t really see anything wrong with it.

“But it continued to be a problem so we took him back this week and he said the only thing he can do now is to go back inside and have a look.

“We are still hopeful it’s nothing serious because nothing showed up on the scan but knees swell up for a reason.

“The specialist is a little bit more concerned than he was before because he’s done very little in the last week but as soon as we took him back on the training pitch it reoccurred.”

There is better news on the injury front for Jamie Proctor, who could be in contention for a starting spot against Charlton after sitting out against Fleetwood Town.

“Procs is a lot better, we’ll monitor him,” the manager said. “He’s not definite but he’s feeling more comfortable. It wasn’t a specific injury, more stiffness in the back area which Matt (Barrass) has been working on during the week.”