Cody McDonald's season is over after scans revealed he has damaged his cruciate knee ligaments.

The Ebbsfleet striker suffered the injury in last Tuesday's goalless draw against Hartlepool United.

Losing him means Fleet are facing the run-in with only two recognised strikers - Danny Kedwell and Michael Cheek.

McDonald, the former Gillingham striker, has scored three goals in five league starts since joining Ebbsfleet in November.

He was a free agent at the time, having played most recently for AFC Wimbledon in League 1 last season.

Fleet boss Garry Hill said: "The plan was to work with Cody this season and get him ready to be part of the plans for next season and vice versa, seeing if he enjoyed it.

"Of course, it’s been a major blow, there’s no doubt about that.

"You’re getting results still and you’re losing players like Cody McDonald and Dave Winfield long-term. They’re major blows to any football club in respect of the experience and quality they both fetch but we can’t change that.

"I won’t ever look for excuses and I won’t turn round and say this or that would have happened. I’ve shown that and the players have shown that.

"We just keep getting on with things the right way, going out on the park and giving our best commitment and effort to win points.

"When I look at the last three games, five points out of nine is a fair return. They were tough games but we've delivered results in those matches."

Club captain Winfield is expected back before the end of the season, with the Fleet physios predicting the defender will resume "competitive contact" within three weeks.

Hill wasn't able to fill the bench at Barrow on Saturday but Ebbsfleet picked up a point which keeps them within four of the National League play-offs.

"We’re more than competitive," Hill said. "You’ve got to realise that only three weeks ago we beat the league leaders at home comfortably, we went to Harrogate and won and we’ve gone up to Barrow, who’d lost one in 14, and drawn there and we’ve drawn with Hartlepool.

"The players haven’t done bad and we’ve not done bad as a club. There are a lot of other clubs who would like to swap points with us."