TEENAGE midfield ace Christian Fox is preparing himself for the biggest encounter of his burgeoning career.

But it is repairing his peace of mind as much as his damaged knee that has Fox almost relishing the surgeon's knife.

Fox's horrid run of injuries came to a head last week when it was announced he is to undergo major surgery to reconstruct a torn cruciate ligament in his knee.

He will go into hospital in the next couple of weeks but is not expected to be back in action for seven months.

His earliest return is forecast for the end of July - just days before the 2001-02 season kicks-off.

It is a devastating blow for a player who was anxious to put the misery of 2000 behind him and return to the form that had seen a number of top clubs casting envious eyes in his direction just 12 months before.

But as he faces up to months on the sidelines, Fox is comforted by the knowledge that he will now have the chance to put his injury problems behind him once and for all.

And he is already looking forward to the start of next season when he can start afresh with a clean bill of health.

"I'm gutted," he told the Evening Press.

"But the knee doesn't feel right and it's not strong enough.

"I could feel it in the last couple of games that I played but I wanted to play on.

"I was trying to put it to the back of my mind because I didn't want to accept that it wasn't right.

"It is a long time to be out, but hopefully I will be back at the start of next season.

"That is something to aim for. It's a target and I am only young and by having it done now will mean everything will be fine after the operation and everything will be back to normal."

The operation will be the same as that endured by Paul Gascoigne at the start of the 1990s.

Since then Everton's former England midfielder has rarely come close to emulating the performances that set him out as a world star in Italia '90.

However, advances in medical science means Fox has no doubt that he will make a full recovery.

And the 19-year-old prefers to look at players like Alan Shearer and more recently Roy Keane and Wes Brown, who have all undergone the same op, for inspiration.

"The last few years the medics have really caught up and know what they are doing now," said Fox.

"Back in the days when Gazza and John Salako did it they didn't really have much experience of it.

"But I think they have learned a lot since then and they have moved on.

"It will just take time to recover. That is the problem the time, but hopefully by July I will be okay."

Updated: 11:09 Saturday, January 27, 2001