Aiden Palmer has been ruled out for the season and advised to retire but insists he will fight on to extend his football career at Ebbsfleet.

Palmer, who turns 29 on Saturday, has a chronic knee problem which forced him to miss a large chunk of last season.

The full-back seemed to be back on track this term after a loan spell at his former club Chelmsford helped him regain match fitness.

But having played just 45 minutes for the Fleet in 2015-16, Palmer broke down in training and was sent to see knee specialist Andy Williams.

Palmer revealed: "I need an operation and my season’s finished.

"He’s told my physio he recommends retirement but I’m not going to retire. I’m going to fight it.

"I’m out for 9-12 months. If it goes again, I’ll quit but I feel like I need to give it one more shot after the surgery and go from there. I think retirement’s an easy way out of football and it’s not who I am.

"He never actually said it to me (about retiring), he said it to Jamie (Crosswell, the Ebbsfleet physio). When Jamie told me, my head went.

"I was upset because it’s not nice to be told that but I’m a fighter, I’m a warrior and don’t give up on anything."

Palmer has arthritis and cartilage damage but the latest scan also revealed a meniscus tear.

He said: "That’s the reason why, lately, I’ve been in so much pain. I thought it would go away, that I could play on it but I couldn’t. It was unbearable at times.

"I was training Monday-Tuesday-Thursday but I was in a lot of pain and it wasn’t right. I did my strengthening, I was in the gym constantly trying to make it better but it just wasn’t getting better. If you see my left leg right now, it’s so small. I’ve been pounding leg weights for months but it’s not getting any bigger.

"When I asked Andy Williams ‘how come?’ he said the swelling in the knee is not allowing it to get any bigger. It shows that something’s not right and something has to be done.

"Right now, I’m so angry. Since I’ve done it, I’m upset, emotional, sad, not myself.

"This season, I wanted to get promoted more than anything but it’s hard for me to be around it right now. When everyone’s talking about football, I wish I was out there. I wish I could play."

Read the full interview in the Gravesend Messenger.