The chances of Jonny Wilkinson playing a part in England’s RBS Six Nations Championship campaign next year ended yesterday when a specialist told him that he would not be fit to play for five months, The Times can reveal.

The fly half was advised that his dislocated left kneecap would take far longer to heal than the four months he had hoped, which had offered him an outside chance of consideration for England after a return to action with Newcastle Falcons in February.

Wilkinson had surgery a week ago and he said yesterday that in all probability he will not be back to play for Newcastle until early March. He will also need further surgery towards the end of this year to establish whether the first operation has been a success. However, he was quick to deny any suggestion that his career may have been ended. “Forget it. It’s not a consideration,” he said.

While Wilkinson, 29, has refused to write off his England chances, the final round of matches in the Six Nations takes place on March 21, giving him little time to be sharp enough for international duty. The months out of action will also affect his selection chances for the Lions tour to South Africa in the summer. He was picked for the tour to New Zealand in 2005, despite having not played international rugby for 18 months, and will probably require similar faith from the selectors a second time around.

Wilkinson said: “I don’t make things easy for myself, do I? Obviously this jeopardises my involvement in this season’s international rugby a bit, but I will never rule anything out. If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen, but it will certainly have been worth striving for.”

Wilkinson’s frustration is compounded by the glimmer of good form that he was able to show in four appearances for Newcastle at the start of the season. “I haven’t had a start of a season feeling so good,” he said. “I was also getting the impression that the whole England scene was moving in the right direction.

“I had met up with the squad once, I was also in regular contact with Brian Smith, the new attack coach, and, knowing Martin Johnson as I do, I was getting the feeling of an England environment that is as good and strong, as supportive and selfless as you would hope for.”

Wilkinson’s knee, which he injured in a match against Gloucester ten days ago, will require the extra month’s rehabilitation because the cartilage tear was too clean. There were no shards of bone, which can help the cartilage to reattach itself. “When the result of the scan was reported to me I was told that it was good news because they had feared that it was a cruciate problem and the cruciates were intact,” he said. “When I heard it was a five-month recovery, it didn’t quite equate to good news at all.”

One of the first “get well” messages he received was a text from Danny Cipriani, the London Wasps fly half who had both hands on Wilkinson’s England No 10 shirt long before the injury jinx struck again.

“I sent him a text back saying that it was good to see him back from his own injury and that he shouldn’t lose his patience because there will be a lot of expectation on him and he will himself want to be straight back to his best form,” Wilkinson said.

Johnson expressed his sympathy yesterday for Wilkinson’s situation. “It is very upsetting when you see a guy who has had a lot of injuries during the last four or five years get hurt again,” he said. “But he’s a strong guy. He’s had surgery, which has gone well, and we look forward to him coming back.”