LUCKLESS Cherries defender Shaun Maher faces an anxious wait to discover whether his season is over.

Maher is due to have an emergency consultation with a leading knee specialist tomorrow after breaking down in training at the end of last week.

The 24-year-old Irishman suffered a recurrence of the knee injury which has kept him out since September.

It is a major setback for Maher who was on the road to recovery after sustaining cartilage damage and a micro-fracture inside his left knee at Darlington.

Maher was given permission by Cherries boss Sean O'Driscoll to return home over the weekend to spend some time with his family in Dublin.

But he will fly back tomorrow before heading straight to an appointment with top knee specialist Dai Rees in Oswestry.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Echo, Maher said last night: "I've got my fingers crossed it's not too serious.

"I was doing some non-contact training with some of the other injured players and my knee just gave way.

"I took it as a warning so I'm going to see the specialist again on Tuesday. I will probably have a scan, but I don't know if I will need an operation until I've seen him.

"The pain is in the same area as before where I had the bone bruising and the micro-fracture.

"It's a big setback because I was due to return to full training with the rest of the squad last Friday.

"I was that close to coming back and I hadn't had any problems with the knee after doing lots of twisting and turning in recent weeks.

"Hopefully it's just a minor hiccup and I can still play some part this season, but I won't know anything for definite until after I have seen the specialist."