JON Armstrong has been told he has a less than 50 per cent chance of ever riding again.

The Wildcats veteran, who hasn’t ridden since April following ongoing problems with his troublesome knee injury, was given the devastating news by a private specialist on Tuesday at Manchester Surgical Centre.

Armstrong will find out in a couple of weeks whether his specialist is prepared to risk working on his troubled knee when he travels to Manchester for an arthroscopy – which involves a tiny camera being placed inside his knee.

However, the team captain has already been warned there is a good chance he could come out of the surgery worse off – which would leave him with no choice but to retire from speedway altogether.

He said: “It’s not the news I wanted to hear. He said before it would have been a 50/50 shot, now he’s saying it’s less than that so it doesn’t sound too promising. I’m not a doctor but when they were showing me, I could see it just did not look too good. He said he would go in with the camera and see what he can do and I have gone with that option.”

Armstrong had initially decided against private surgery because of the expense but will now dig deep to spend £3,500 from his own pocket for the arthroscopy after growing impatient with frequent delays from the NHS.

He added: “They had told me it would be a certain amount of weeks and I was still waiting to find out what was going on. Then in early August they told me it would be another 12 weeks until they knew. What if I had waited another 12 weeks and then I got told that nothing could be done? Then time would be running out to be fit for next year.

“I’m still hoping I can be able to get it sorted but at the moment it’s just one of those things. At the end of this month I will know either way and I’m going to spend my three and a half thousand quid so I can find out, finally.”

If the surgeon in Manchester refuses to operate after viewing the arthroscopy then Armstrong has pledged to look elsewhere, but there are only a handful of surgeons in the UK who would be able to help him.

The Mighty Midget’s knee problems began when be broke his leg riding for the Wildcats in May 2008 and, despite an attempted comeback, he has never fully regained his fitness.

Armstrong was extremely thankful to a number of Wildcats staff members for their support throughout his injury problems He said: “I’ve not really spoken to the riders but Phil Bartlett has been great. He says when I feel right he will have me straight back into the team. He says there’s always a place for me.”

* The Wildcats host King's Lynn at the Wessex Bus Raceway on Friday night (7.15pm).