SAINTS striker Marian Pahars has undergone a second operation on his injured ankle to try and resolve the problem.

Pahars has been out since mid-November and had a first op a month ago but the pain has not gone and Swedish surgeon Christer Rolf, professor of sports medicine at Sheffield University, recommended the second operation.

The surgery was only a minor clean-up to remove some floating bone but Pahars in unlikely to figure until the middle of March at the earliest.

Physio Jim Joyce said: "It had gone on long enough to suggest there was still a problem and the scan has shown a few loose fragments of bone which had not shown up previously.

"It is like having sand in oil and if we can remove the irritation then the joint should function normally.

"It is not major reconstructive surgery but just a simple clean-out."

Wayne Bridge will have another scan on his torn calf muscle next Wednesday but is unlikely to be fit for the February 22 trip to Everton.