Luckless Wolves defender Mark Little is facing up to three months on the sidelines after undergoing surgery to repair a damaged cartilage.

Mark is now back at Compton beginning his rehabilitation after the operation earlier this week to repair the knee injury sustained while on loan at Northampton.

And it's a frustrating time for the young defender who was impressing at Sixfields and had been part of the team which won at Bolton in the Carling Cup and then only went out on penalties to Sunderland.

"Obviously it's frustrating - a bit of a nightmare really because I was playing regular football and enjoying it," he says.

"I had the operation earlier this week and now I'm back at Wolves starting off with the rehabilitation.

"It's going to take time for me to get my head around it, I'm trying to not even to look at the lads training if I'm honest because I'm on the sidelines.

"It's just a case of getting in and doing my work and starting the recovery process.

"At least I'm not out for the season and know I will hopefully be back in the New Year."

The injury itself proved something of a bizarre one as it initially appeared to have improved before returning with a vengeance.

Mark has undergone a repair to the cartilage rather than having some of it cut away to safeguard his longer term future in much the same way as happened to Mark Davies in Mick McCarthy's first pre-season.

"Looking back it probably happened in our game at Sunderland," says Mark.

"That's when I first felt the problem but I can't remember a specific point where I got a bang on it or fell awkwardly in a tackle or anything.

"After the game the knee swelled up but we had it checked out and there didn't seem to be a problem.

"I just thought that maybe spending five hours on the coach on the way home had contributed to the problem.

"I actually played a few games after that and it appeared to have settled down but then I went in for a tackle against Yeovil and couldn't straighten my leg properly.

"I went to see a specialist again and a scan revealed I'd got a bucket-handle tear in my cartilage.

"At that point there are two options - to cut a bit of the cartilage away which probably means two to three weeks out or to repair the damage which means about three months out.

"The second option is one which can put five years on your career so as a young player it's usually the better one to take even though you're out for longer.

"It might be difficult to deal with now but I'm sure I'll look back later in my career and be glad we got it repaired."

Mark is now back under the guidance of Wolves' medical department as he kicks off his recovery.

Head of the medical department Steve Kemp explains:  "Mark was injured initially at Sunderland but it was a bizarre one because although it probably tore there it went into the joint and appeared to heal.

"Mark carried on playing a few more games and developed a few minor niggles and it was then after seeking specialist opinion and MRI diagnosis that the surgeon could see the cartilage tear.

"Obviously that needed to be addressed and so it was fully repaired which ensures there is no further risk to Mark's long-term career."