September 16 2005

Andy Johnson

ANDY JOHNSON will have an operation on his knee - but he could be back in a month.

The Eagles hitman limped off in Palace's 3-2 defeat at Reading on Tuesday night after jarring his knee.

"My knee is stiff and sore and the scan results have shown that I need a little operation to clean it out," said JOHNSON.

"I expect to be missing for two weeks but, if there's a lot to clean out, then it could be four to six.

"Obviously, I’m disappointed to be missing games but it’s a relief that it isn’t any worse.

"I picked up the injury when I slid in on one of their players after about half an hour. As I did so, there was a collision which jarred my leg."

Boss Iain Dowie added: "We don’t think the injury is too major. AJ is still in good spirits and we are all keeping our fingers crossed.

"Reports that he has damaged ligaments are not true but we have to have the injury looked at thoroughly."