Dodd sustained the injury in the opening 20 minutes of last Sunday's clash against Wellington Phoenix.

Coach Ian Ferguson said the news wasn't as positive as first hoped and the central defender would have surgery today.

"It's not too good. Doddsy goes in for surgery today and we've been told it's probably anything from six weeks onwards. He's got knee ligament damage I think," Ferguson said.

"Once they open him up we'll see how severe it is.

"We knew he was struggling after about 15 to 20 minutes but we thought he might have got to half time but as it went on I got worse with the twisting and turning and it got that bad he had to come off."

Dodd's injury means Scott Wilson will be an automatic inclusion in the team for this Sunday's return clash against Adelaide United at Dairy Farmers Stadium.

While Dodd being ruled out has added to Ferguson's injury woes this season, he was philosophical about the timing.

"We'd like Dodd to be fit but with this happening and Wilson coming back at the right time and we're not far off Jacob Timpano coming back as well ,things are getting better," he said.

Ferguson said he expected the team to be ready for Adelaide this Sunday despite the injury setback, and expects an improvement on last week's 1-1 draw with Wellington Phoenix.

"We rode our luck in the first half but that happens. We've played a lot better and got nothing from games.

"For the second half  was reasonably pleased. We had most of the play and they defended well," Ferguson added.