Last Updated: Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:10
Cardiff centre Jamie Roberts is hopeful of returning to action in October as he is set to undergo knee ligament surgery on Thursday.
The Wales international star suffered a a recurrence of a knee injury during the Blues' 31-3 Pro12 defeat at Glasgow last Friday and was immediately ruled out for the rest of the season.
Scans revealed that he required surgery and the Lions three-quarter will now miss the Blues Heineken Cup clash with Leinster.
The 25-year-old has also been ruled out of Wales' summer tour to Australia, during which the Grand Slam winners will play three Tests against the Wallabies.
He will work hard in the off-season to regain fitness and strengthen the knee and hopes to return at some stage in the autumn.
"I'd miss September and hopefully aim to come back playing in October. That's a realistic goal," he said. "The decision has been made for me to have an operation on the anterior cruciate ligament later this week.
"It will mean a minimum of roughly six months away from the playing field."
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