STEWART DOWNING will have surgery today in the hope of finally learning the true extent of the foot problem that he sustained in last weekend’s draw with Aston Villa.

As revealed in The Northern Echo on Tuesday, Downing has been lined up for an operation in an attempt to avoid spending six months on the sidelines.

After further examinations, the injury appears to be improving.

The fracture in his foot, which showed up on Monday’s scan, appears to have gone back into place by itself.

However, Downing is still in some pain and this afternoon’s exploratory surgery is due to go ahead as planned in a bid to make sure he returns to fitness as soon as possible.

In the worst case scenario, the 24-year-old was told to brace himself for the longest possible spell out. There are, though, genuine hopes that will no longer be the case.

Today’s surgery in London, where he has been visiting a leading orthopaedic specialist, will hopefully offer further confidence that his foot will make a quicker recovery.

It is imperative on both the player and the club’s part that Downing’s returns to normal sooner rather than later so that he can be sold before the start of the new season.

Liverpool, Everton, Aston Villa and Tottenham are all weighing up whether to make official offers for the £15mrated winger, which would undoubtedly come in handy to Boro if they fall into the Championship.

Downing will miss Sunday’s decider at West Ham and England’s World Cup qualifiers with Kazakhstan and Andorra next month.

“Stewart is going to be out for two or three months at least. That’s not good news for him or the club,” said assistant manager Malcolm Crosby.

“Stewart is facing an operation and will be very frustrated.

I have looked at the challenge again by (Stilian) Petrov and, while it was a clumsy challenge, I think it was an accident.

“I don’t think that for one minute he meant to do it. Injuries are part of the game and you get used to them happening when you least want them.”

With Boro at West Ham on Sunday needing to win comfortably and for both Newcastle and Hull City to lose, it seems unlikely that Premier League football will be at the Riverside next season.

If relegation does fall on the Teessiders for the first time since 1997, chairman Steve Gibson is prepared to sell players before he gives license for new additions to be made to the squad.

If a deal cannot be done to offload Downing, Gibson may be forced into selling other members of the squad, along with the likes of Gary O’Neil and Tuncay Sanli who are expected to leave anyway.

There are also huge question marks still hanging over Ross Turnbull and Matthew Bates, who are both out of contract and attracting interest from Premier League clubs.

It promises to be a summer of change on Teesside, just a year on from allowing the likes of George Boateng, Lee Cattermole, Mark Schwarzer, Luke Young and Fabio Rochemback to leave.

It emerged yesterday that Schwarzer, who rejected the offer of a new contract in favour of moving to London, has opened talks about a new deal at Fulham.

The 36-year-old still has a year left to run on his existing terms but is already keen to commit his future to Craven Cottage after a stunning first season under Roy Hodgson.