Marlon King - Reuters

LONDON, England (CMC):

Watford's controversial Reggae Boyz striker Marlon King has been ruled out for the rest of the Premiership season after under-going an operation to correct a knee problem.

The east England club reported late Saturday that the 27-year-old King, who missed the last four outings with the squad because of the injury, would be unable to complete the rest of the season because of the extent of the injury.

"I learnt of the news late last night (Friday). Marlon King went in for a routine operation yesterday on his cartilage and unfortunately they found some bone had flaked away from his femur," manager Andy Boothroyd said.

He will be back

"It's a blow to lose such an important player and a great character. But Marlon will be back and he'll be stronger for it. He still has a big part to play in our season although he won't get any extra money for being on my coaching staff."

King last started for Watford in mid-October against Arsenal but has been sidelined ever since because of the knee problem.

His planned return to action for last weekend's fixture against Middles-brough proved unsuccessful as the knee did not hold up in training.

King is currently locked in a stand-off with the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) after being suspended from the team back in June. He was accused of breaking team curfew ahead of Jamaica's historic match against England.

A JFF official said recently that King had failed to respond to correspondence inviting him to a meeting and would remain out of the Reggae Boyz line-up until he cooperates.