LIAM Hearn will find out if his dream of playing again this season is realistic when he visits a knee specialist today.
As reported, the Grimsby Town 'Hitman' has been sidelined by a cruciate injury, a season after rupturing his Achilles.
Mariners boss Paul Hurst fears that the 28-year-old could be out of action for the whole campaign.
But Hearn – who returned for the final six weeks of last season – is hoping for better news today.
"Speaking to Mooro (physio Dave Moore), it's not as serious as it could have been, but it's still going to be a long lay-off," he told the Telegraph.
"When Mooro spoke to him about the injury, the specialist seemed pretty optimistic, so hopefully I can get some good news today.
"It's difficult to put a timescale on the recovery, so we'll let the specialist have a look, but I'd hope to be back before the end of the season."
Explaining when his elation of scoring against Barnet turned to despair, less than 15 minutes later, Hearn continued: "I've never had a problem with my knees in my life.
"I've always been really fortunate in that sense, but obviously not this time around.
"I hadn't come on for a couple of games, but then I got my chance against Barnet and scored straight away.
"I felt really good but then with the last kick of the game this happened, and I'm back to square one.
"I'm not one for going down, but I knew straight away. My foot sunk in the floor, we were both leaning, and I felt the knee twist."
The forward added: "Obviously, it's tough. It's been a year giving everything you've got to get right, and then...
"I knew there might be complications with other injuries, but I never expected anything like this.
"It's going to take a while for me to turn things around because mentally this has been one of my toughest moments."
Hearn, who netted 29 goals in his debut season with the Mariners, was keen to pay tribute to the Town supporters.
"I want to thank the fans for all their support and messages they've been sending me – it's helped me a lot," he said.
"I hold them in high regard because they've always been superb towards me and I really appreciate that."
