arthroscopic surgery yesterday to repair damaged cartilage in his left knee.

The Bermuda international striker suffered the injury in his team's weekend match with Port Vale, which Rotherham won 4-1.

When contacted last night in a hospital in Sheffield, Goater was upbeat about the injury, which came just when he was settling back into the team following the World Cup campaign.

"The doctors said the injury was what they expected, that my cartilage at the back of the knee was slipping in and out,'' Goater said last night. "The rest of the knee itself is all right.'' Goater, who had the minor surgery to remove a bit of the cartilage, was kept overnight for observation and depending on how he responds to therapy this morning could be allowed home later today.

"Somewhere in the range of four weeks, I should be back playing,'' Goater said. "But I want to make sure I'm 100 percent when I go into it. I'm usually good with healing from injuries.

"I'll be doing some leg raises tomorrow and if it's all right they'll let me go home. If not I'll have to stay another day. Kyle (Lightbourne) is at my house now, because he has a couple of days off.'' If he is out for a month Goater will miss the upcoming games against Bournemouth on Friday night, Huddersfield Town, Leyton Orient, Plymouth and Chester, as the Merry Millers bid to stay in the thick of the promotion race.

"It was great to get that 4-1 win because the crowd had started to get on to us during one or two losses,'' said Goater. "They have expectations of us winning and staying in there.'' The top two teams in the standings automatically gain promotion with the next four involved in the post-season play-offs. Rotherham are presently sixth, six points out of second place. Teams are awarded three points for a win and one for a draw.

The absence of Goater could throw a spanner in the works of VSB who have started showing highlights of Rotherham's home matches.

SHAWN GOATER.