Danny Mullins will miss the rest of the season as he will have to undergo an operation on the kneecap he damaged in a fall at Newbury on Saturday.

The jockey will have an operation on Tuesday which will keep him out of action for about 12 weeks.

He fractured his kneecap in a fall from Dicosimo at the fourth flight in the Betfair Hurdle.

Mullins was taken to hospital for a precautionary X-ray, before he flew back to Ireland and went to see leading sports surgeon Dr Tadhg O'Sullivan on Monday.

O'Sullivan will perform the operation at Whitfield Clinic in Waterford.

"He's having an operation on his kneecap tomorrow morning and will be out for 12 weeks. It's bad news," said Mullins' agent Ken Whelan.

"He saw the specialist who told him there was only one solution to it - he'd have to have an operation.

"It's 10 weeks to the Punchestown Festival, so it means he's going to miss the rest of the season."

Mullins had been looking forward to returning for the Cheltenham Festival after enjoying a successful campaign that included a Grade One victory on Footpad at Leopardstown just a week before having an untimely tumble.