NEW Weymouth captain David Trotter is set to miss the start of the new season.

The medium pacer suffered torn knee ligaments in his side’s friendly victory over Martinstown last Sunday.

Trotter’s injury is a huge blow for the Seasiders, coming just two weeks before they get their Dorset Premier Division campaign underway at Poole on May 2.

He said: “I’m absolutely gutted. We have had a fantastic winter under new coach Sean Fitzgerald and everyone is really looking forward to getting going at Poole.

“But this is just about the worse thing that could have happened from a purely selfish point of view and so you can imagine how I feel right now.

“What I have done is torn the ligaments in my right knee. I have been told to rest and elevate but it’s very likely that I will miss the start of the season, if not longer.

“I will have to see what happens over the next few days and see what the specialist says before making any long term decisions.

“All I can do is keep my fingers crossed for a quick recovery although obviously it's not going to happen overnight.

“The worse case scenario is that I could miss the main bulk of the season but that’s something I don’t want to think about at this stage.”