Recovery after knee surgery

Just over a year ago I had surgery to my left knee to sort out some torn cartilege. Operation was successful - knee is in much better shape than before.

Recovery of the leg muscles was slow, in particular the ability of the quads to properly control the leg going down stairs for example.

But, all that said, it's now working well. And, after a low year last year in terms of milage and training intensity I am now building back up to previous levels of intensity, if not yet power, though hopefully that will come back.

Issue: the muscle mass on the left leg is still noticeably less than the right - perhaps an inch or more smaller circumference round the lower parts of the quads.

I'm not doing anything special to address this. I don't like doing leg-weights - both because of the stress on the joints but also because I'd rather use the time/energy for cycling.

I don't notice it whilst cycling so my instict is to ignore it and just pedal.


Question is:
a) does a size (& potential strength) imbalance between right / left leg matter ?
b) should I be doing anything special to built the left leg up to the same size/strength as the right ? (e.g. weights; one legged cycling drills etc)

Thanks for any thoughts

Ken (42; prior high FTP: 275 watts; 75 kg; limited training time due to family & work commitments)