Emerging Essendon midfielder Jason Winderlich will miss the rest of the AFL season with a back injury.

Winderlich, 23, will have surgery on Monday to repair a prolapsed disc, an ongoing problem which has troubled him since the pre-season.

The Bombers decided surgery was the best option for his long-term future, so that the issue could be eliminated for good and he could join pre-season training for 2009 at the same time as his teammates.

"I had a split disc in my back this pre-season and missed 10 weeks of training straight after Christmas and that meant I was always behind the eight ball coming into this year," Winderlich said.

"Trying to play football without a proper pre-season is hard these days with the amount of running you have to do. At least after the operation I will be fully conditioned and ready to go by the time pre-season starts later this year, which is the key.

"I don't want to keep waiting for it to heal itself."

Meanwhile, Bombers team manager David Calthorpe said young key position prospect Scott Gumbleton was unlikely to play again this season, after surgery on a broken collarbone.

"The club has not made a decision as to whether we bring him back to play footy this year, however it's unlikely because he still has at least six weeks before he can play again," Calthorpe said.

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