Ebbsfleet full-back Joe Howe will not play again before Easter and he’s been told he may need surgery on his injured shoulder.

Doctors are hopeful the damaged nerve in Howe’s right shoulder will heal naturally but he won’t know either way until his next hospital appointment on March 31.

Howe dislocated that shoulder playing against Braintree six weeks ago but after three weeks in a sling, it became clear the injury was more complicated.

He said: "I started to do basic strengthening exercises but I became aware of muscle numbness in my shoulder. When I touched the skin, it wasn’t tensing.

"The hospital wanted to see me anyway when I came out of the sling and I told them about the numb feeling. They said there’s damage to the auxiliary nerve, which is the main nerve that sends a signal to the deltoid muscle to tense.

"That nerve is damaged or trapped so the signal to the shoulder muscle is not being received.

"The doctor referred me to a shoulder specialist and they said the nerve is definitely the problem, that I needed to give it another four weeks to allow the nerve to heal itself.

"Ideally, the nerve needs to heal itself for your long-term health. They don’t like to play around and touch them.

"If there’s no improvement when I go back on March 31, the next step is an electromyography test. They’ll put a needle into my arm with a wire and send an electric pulse into the needle to see if the nerve reacts.

"If that doesn’t work, the next step is keyhole surgery but I’ve been told that’s unlikely. In eight out of 10 cases, the nerve heals itself but it’s a waiting game now and it’s so frustrating."

Read the full interview in the Gravesend Messenger.